Gravity, Chamber of Secrets
by KellyZipcode
Summary: When life at Hogwarts takes a turn for the worse and lives are threatened, Katie Bell and Oliver Wood realize there's more between them than just Quidditch.
1. Good Morning

_Here are some basics:_

_I hate creating new characters in other people's works (though I love creating my own original characters in my own original stories) so everything is going to be canon._

_This story is going to take place during Harry's second year, therefore, the subplot is going to be that of Chamber of Secrets. I plan on using direct quotes._

_I'm not too fond of people changing ages around, but I am hypocritically going to make Katie Bell a fourth year in this story because if I stay canon with her age, she'd only be thirteen. And thirteen year olds don't have serious relationships (not that fourteen year old do either, but I don't want to change anyone else's age). Therefore, she will be two years younger than Oliver, who is a sixth year. Everyone else, just like Oliver, will be the same age as they are in the books._

_Let's see how creative I can get =]_

_Oh, and just in case I ever forget in the future, all credit goes to the bloody fantastic J.K. Rowling where credit is due._

It was nine-thirty on a cool September morning, the first day of the month. In just an hour and a half's time, Platform nine and three-quarters would be filled with young and old witches and wizards alike but for now, only tattered Daily Prophets and Licorice Wand wrappers littered the empty platform as an impatient Katie Bell slumped against the wall, willing for time to pass more swiftly.

It's not that Katie was anxious to escape her home. In fact, she loved her family and the house they lived in together. But she could simply wait no longer to return to Hogwarts, a place so magical, so wonderful, that nearly every student came to regard it as a second home. So excited was she, that Katie had actually packed her trunk a month in advance. Too excited, she had pulled an all-nighter the previous night, and begged her parents to take her to Kings Cross as soon as the sun had broken over the horizon. And now, here she sat, alone on a deserted platform, waiting for the train that wouldn't come for over an hour while her parents conversed with other Muggles on the other side of the barrier between platforms nine and ten.

Katie was a Muggle-born. Her mother and father had never known magic, and consequently, she lived in the suburban town of Darlington, north of Leeds. She knew of no magical people in the immediate area and therefore returned every summer to a life average for even the most common-place Muggles. It was because of this limitation that she was forced to leave her one true passion behind in Hogwarts at the end of every term: Quidditch.

Yes, Katie was anxious to return to spells and the feasts in the Great Hall and her heavenly bed in Gryffindor Tower. And yes, Katie could hardly wait to reunite with her friends. But above all else, Katie Bell longed for the feel of the wind in her hair as she soared through the air on her broom and the the thrill of victory as she hurled the Quaffle through a goal post.

For Katie Bell, time could not pass quick enough.

Purely out of boredom, she began braiding and unbraiding her long dark blonde hair, until she fell asleep. What seemed like only minutes later, Katie was finally startled awake by a pair of hands shaking her shoulders. She ignored the impatient hands and groggily groaned, when she heard an all too familiar voice.

"Bell! Wake up! The train's about to leave in five minutes!" crowed the voice of Angelina Johnson, her fellow chaser.

"Wakey, wakey, eggs and bac-ey," chimed the voice of Fred Weasley, who then affectionately tapped her on the head.

Katie made no move to wake, the sleep deprivation had finally caught up with her. But her friends had other ideas.

"Bell, either you get off your arse straight away or we're going to do it for you," Alicia Spinnet threatened. Katie still showed no hint of waking. "You asked for it. George, get her head. Fred, get her feet. Oliver, keep an eye on them to make sure they don't drop her on the train tracks. We'll get her trunk." Katie heard footsteps wander off.

Much to her aversion, Katie suddenly felt her body leave the ground. Her eyes popped wide open to the smiling faces and flaming red hair of the Weasley twins beaming down at her.

"Ahh, Sleeping Beauty has awoken," Fred assessed.

"Good morning, sunshine,"George added, as he began to swing her body back and forth with his twin.

"I think Bell's quite capable of walking on her own two feet, boys," Oliver Wood chimed in, smirking down at Katie from the side.

"Yes, thank you, Oliver," Katie commended as the Weasleys placed her upright. Almost immediately she stumbled, nearly knocking into a child she could only presume to be a first-year.

"I only told them to put you down for the satisfaction of seeing you hobble through this crowd," he gestured with his hand, "and I do believe it was worth it," Oliver chuckled. Fred and George were quick to join in.

"You go ahead and poke your fun now," Katie chastised, "but just wait until we get back to Hogwarts. I'll get my revenge."

"Have you forgotten who we are?" both Fred and George questioned at the same time with identical appalled looks on their faces. Katie rolled her eyes.

"Unfortunately, no. Now come on, let's just get on the train."

"I have to agree with Bell," Oliver said. "Besides, the faster we get on the train, the faster we get to the school. And the faster we get to the school, the faster we can practice. Let's go!" Katie, Fred, and George all groaned. Oliver Wood, no doubt, had spent his entire summer thinking of nothing but Quidditch. Though Katie was passionate, Quidditch did not consume her life, she was not obsessed. Oliver was.

The four teammates hurriedly made their way through the crowd of children hugging and kissing their parents goodbye and finally clambered on to the Hogwarts Express, three of them dreading what plans their captain had devised in the months apart.


	2. Accidents Happen

_I'm super sorry if people are actually reading this, think it's good, and become impatient for me to update. Believe me, I have wanted to update so badly! But unfortunately, I have had to write 21 journals for English. The good news is, I turned them in today! So now I'm free to update to my heart's content. =]_

_I'm sorry if you find this chapter long and boring. Half of it was supposed to be in the first chapter, but I didn't have much time to type and I was anxious to post something. So I hope it doesn't drag. Enjoy!_

CHAPTER 2 - ACCIDENTS HAPPEN

The four friends clambered on to the crimson red train and immediately began searching for an available compartment. The aisle was stuffed with children of all ages trying to do just the same. Elbows were thrown, bruises were born, and Katie was sure someone had stamped on her foot. There were so many people, in fact, that it was almost impossible to stay together in a group. Katie would've been swept up, lost in the flood of kids, had it not been for the Weasley's vibrant hair guiding her way. After what seemed like forever, there came a clearing at the end of the hall where several empty carriages were to be found, along with Hermione Granger, a second year whom Katie had run into in the common room from time to time.

"Why, hello Miss Granger. Fancy seeing you here," George said as he quite literally was pushed into her by his twin. They both bowed dramatically.

"Have either of you seen Ron? I can't find him or Harry anywhere," she grumbled. It was then that Katie noticed she had a rather frustrated look on her face. It was hard to see past her bushy hair.

"Nope. Perhaps poor ickle Ronniekins is still trying to pull his trunk out of the car," Fred suggested with an amused look on his face.

"Car?" Oliver asked. Katie had almost forgotten he was there, although he was directly behind her. She must've been too befuddled by the mobs of students.

"Yes, car. Don't ask. Now what's this about our dear baby brother?" Fred probed.

Hermione crossed her arms and raised her chin in the air slightly. "Well, obviously he came with you. You ought to know where he is."

"He's your lover," George pointed out.

"I don't know what you're talking about. And he's your brother." Hermione snapped.

"Touche, oh intelligent one," Fred conceded. Hermione loosened up a fraction.

"Guys, stop bothering the poor girl and let her look for Harry and your brother. I see Angelina and Alicia up ahead," Katie insisted as she motioned with her hands towards the finally visible forms of the remaining female teammates. Everyone shifted, the Gryffindor Quidditch team going one way, Hermione the other, and Katie could've sworn she heard Hermione muttering something about "love" and "rubbish."

Katie, Fred, George, and Oliver toppled into the carriage and as Katie had expected, Fred immediately sat next to Angelina while George simultaneously plopped down next to Alicia. This left Katie and Oliver awkwardly sitting by the door across from each other.

"Katie, you're never going to guess who our new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor is," Alicia gushed.

"Who?" Katie hoped it would be someone famous, someone with some real experience, someone without a stuttering problem and paranoia. Someone without You-Know-Who under his rancid purple turban.

"Gilderoy Lockhart!" The name erupted out of Alicia's mouth. Angelina giggled and all three boys rolled their eyes. Katie wasn't sure what to think. She personally didn't hold much stock in celebrities, but she wouldn't judge this Lockhart character until after he'd taught a lesson. Besides, Harry was the Boy Who Lived, for Merlin's sake, and he was about as down-to-earth as a potted Mandrake. You know, before you pull them up and they scream their heads off.

"That man is a git," George said.

"The gittiest git of the land!" Fred added. "Dropped into one too many cauldrons when he was a baby." Alicia pouted.

"My mum fancies him. He seems pretty thick," Oliver chimed in, deepining Alicia's frown.

"You don't even know him," she mumbled.

"Don't care to," Fred said. George nodded fervently while Oliver just tilted his head in agreement.

"Well, you don't have a choice in the matter since your grade is going to rest in his hands," Angelina teased. "So suck it up and deal with it boys or it's going to be a long year."

"Katie, what do you think?" Fred inquired with dramatically pleading eyes.

"I don't care who teaches what class. I...I just want to get out on the pitch again." It was the truth.

"The pitch! Quidditch!" Oliver nearly exploded with enthusiasm. "What better time to start reviewing tactics than when we're stuck on a train together for hours on end!" Everyone else groaned as he launched into one of his all too familiar speeches about how this was the year Gryffindor was going to win the Quidditch Cup.

"Oliver, stop it. Let us relish in what little sanity we have left in these last few hours," George complained.

"Yes. Or I'll personally make your school year a living hell," Fred said.

"As will I, of course," George amended.

"They have a point, you know," Angelina said.

Oliver took no mention of his team's remarks and only grew more passionate as he continued. Katie decided now would be an opportune time to use the bathroom and change into her robes.

"I'll be right back." None one said anything as she left the compartment. Oliver droned on about new moves and new players and everyone else grew droopy-eyed.

In what seemed like no time, the train pulled into Hogsmeade Station, and although Katie took her time changing, she did not miss all of Oliver's Quidditch spiel. Alicia, Angelina, Fred, and George slowly rose from their sleep, which Oliver luckily took no notice of because he was so immersed in his speech. They filed off in a great mob onto the jam-packed platform and climbed into one of the horseless carriages.

Every year, the first view of Hogwarts took Katie's breath away. The twins' joking voices faded into the distance, along with Oliver's lecture, and she gazed in awe at the colossal castle.

All six of them walked into the Great Hall together and took their seats at the end of the Gryffindor table, closest to the High Table. All too soon, a number of new Gryffindors joined them, then it was time for Dumbledore's annual brief start-of-term speech to welcome the first years and returning students to Hogwarts. Katie had always loved Dumbledore, though she never had much of an opportunity to really talk to him. Whenever he passed her on her way to class, however, he waved kindly and smiled at her with twinkling eyes. Those twinkling eyes, unsurprisingly, had not lost any of their luster, and gleamed more brightly with every word the headmaster spoke.

"Also, if you have not noticed by now, we have a new face at the teachers' table," Dumbledore announced as he gestured to his left. "Professor Gilderoy Lockhart has joined our ranks and will school all of you in Defense Against the Dark Arts." A man in aquamarine robes stood up from his seat, chest puffed out in confidence (almost as if he was striking a pose), with a bright smile on his face. Even from where Katie sat, she swore she could see every single one of his teeth.

"I trust that you will all give him a lovely, magical welcome," Dumbledore continued. "And now, time to appease those grumbling stomachs of yours." Instantaneously, the tables were completely filled with all sorts of food imaginable. Everyone in the Hall scarfed their dinners down, too excited to slow their eating. The Gryffindor Quidditch team was no exception. Katie peered down the table once she had finished her first helping, and noticed that Hermione Granger was still alone, gently prodding some chicken on her golden plate. _Perhaps Harry and Ron went to the bathroom_, Katie thought to herself.

Although the entire hall was alive with conversation, Katie sat quietly when she was finished and instead glanced at the goings-on around her. Fred and George didn't even stop to breathe while they were shoving food into their mouths. Oliver was strictly eating only meat - probably one of his new diet ideas for Quidditch - though he did sneak some treacle tart when he thought no one was watching. Angelina and Alicia were trading stories from their summers apart and occasionally stealing glances up at Professor Lockhart, who was animatedly reenacting something to Professor Sprout. When she had observed most of the room, she gazed up at the ceiling of the hall. The stars on the enchanted ceiling were partly obstructed by wispy clouds, like they were playing hide-and-seek with the moon. This entertained her for some time, watching the stars fade in and out of view.

"I wonder where Snape is," Katie heard Angelina mutter, as she was broken out of her reverie.

"Probably off beating some Hufflepuff in the dugeons," George said matter-of-factly.

"Poor soul," Fred agreed.

"If he's beating anyone, I'm betting it would be a Gryffindor," Angelina countered.

"He can beat all the Gryffindors he wants -" Oliver said.

"Oliver!" Angelina and Alicia chastised in unison.

"What? I was only going to say we're going to be Slytherin in Quidditch anyways." Everyone else rolled their eyes and went back to eating.

"I think I'm going to head up to the tower," Katie decided after a few minutes of silence.

"But Dumbledore hasn't even given the start-of-term notices yet," Angelina said.

"You can fill me in later. I just feel like wandering around the castle before it's filled with Slytherins."

"She has a point, you know," Fred said.

So Katie got up from the table crowded with students and made her way to the doors. Out in the entrance hall, the room seemed even bigger than normal. And, without students filing in and out of every door and up and down the marble staircase, the silence made it seem slightly eerie. But then again, the castle was centuries old.

Pictures waved at her and suits of armor clanked as Katie ambled up to the seventh floor. Finally, she came to the entrance of Gryffindor Tower and the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Password?" the lady in the portrait asked. During her time people-watching, she had heard Percy inform anyone within a ten foot radius that the password was "wattlebird," and that it was his "duty and honor as prefect to alert all his fellow Gryffindors."

"Wattlebird," Katie uttered. The painting swung open and Katie climbed through the portrait hole and headed straight for one of the squashy armchairs by the fireplace.

Although Katie usually grouped herself with her Quidditch team for meals and Hogsmeade trips and the like, she wasn't exactly the best of friends with them. Yes, they all had a bond of sorts, a bond that only a Quidditch team could have. Angelina and Alicia were best friends, as were Fred and George of course. Oliver was too absorbed in Quidditch to care about any relationship aside from his relationships with his teammates. Harry had other friends, not to mention legions of followers (she had heard a first year rambling on about the "great Harry Potter" and how he couldn't wait to see him). This left Katie almost as a... seventh wheel. She didn't mind, though. If she was being honest with herself, she was also too engrossed with Quidditch to form close relationships. Unlike Oliver, she had a life though. Her life, aside from Quidditch, just mainly consisted of her studies, seeing as how it took all of her focus to keep her mind from getting distracted by Quidditch. This meant she didn't have much free time, but when she did, she just spent it thinking quietly to herself, sometimes drawing or painting just for fun.

Katie wasn't necessarily best friends with anyone on the Quidditch team, but they _were_ like one big family. She couldn't have a deep conversation with any of her teammates, but there was some sort of inexplicable emotional connection that attracted them to one another. It just felt right to Katie to be in their presence. Which was why she was not shocked that Fred and George came over and tackled her when the rest of Gryffindor House entered the common room.

"Oh, Katie! We've been apart for too long!" George cried as he gripped her tightly in a hug.

"We couldn't survive one more minute without seeing your exquisite face!" Fred exclaimed, hugging her from the other side.

"Shut it," Katie teased as she pushed the twins off and started to head up the stairs to the girls' dormitory. She had one foot on the first step when the entire common room burst into applause. She whipped herself around to see the cause of the noise, only to find Harry and Ron being pulled through the portrait hole by the hands of many excited Gryffindors. Hermione climbed in by herself.

"Brilliant!" Lee Jordan yelled. "Inspired! What an entrance! Flying a car right into the Whomping Willow, people'll be talking about that one for years - "

_Oh_, Katie thought. Suddenly, Ron and Harry's absence made sense, as did Hermione's fruitless searching. Katie watched as Fred and George got up from the seat she had just vacated and made their way to the front of the crowd.

"Why couldn't we've come in the car, eh? they asked together with a smirk on their faces.

"Got to get upstairs - bit tired," Ron said. He and Harry headed towards Katie, who smiled politely at them, as they headed up the spiral staircase to the boys' dormitories. Katie decided to stay downstairs for a little while longer, while everyone was in such good spirits. Except for Fred and George. They appeared to be arguing over something. She pushed her way through Gryffindors left and right until she found the mischievous redheads.

"I don't know what you're talking about, you dolt. Clearly, _I _was his inspiration," George said.

"No. _I_ was the one who flew the car to Harry's. Clearly, _I _ was his inspiration," Fred opposed.

"Ron always liked me better," George declared.

"Well, I'm the better-looking twin," Fred said simply.

"Dunderhead," George snarled as he punched his twin in the arm. Fred didn't say anything as he returned the attack. Before too long, it had escalated into an all out brawl. That was the thing about the Weasley twins. They were always together, they were pure genius when it came to mischief. But they fought about the most trivial things. Katie felt obligated to step in. Besides, she was a girl, and she knew the Weasleys well enough to know they wouldn't harm her.

"You're both equally revolting, now break it up!" Katie proclaimed. She tried her best to push them apart at the shoulders, but her efforts were in vain. It was then that Oliver came over.

"I will _not_ have my beaters beat each other to a pulp!" he yelled over the twins' angry voices.

"Oh, will you just shut up about Quidditch?" George groaned. Fred then punched Oliver and dragged him into the fight too.

Katie held her ground and again tried to pry the three boys apart. Then, Oliver's fist came flying out of nowhere and knocked her in the stomach. Completely caught off guard, she fell backwards to the ground, thoroughly winded. The quarrel immediately ended.

"Merlin! I'm so sorry, Katie!" Oliver apologized as he knelt down to help her up.

"Wow, Oliver. That was a spanking good right hook!" Fred beamed.

"Best punch I've ever seen thrown. No wonder you're Captain," George said. As usual, the twins had appeared to be on good terms as quickly as the fight had started.

"Are you okay?" Oliver questioned, flitting his hands over her body, not quite sure how to handle the situation. Katie's eyes narrowed at his ridiculous question.

"Well, aside from the fact that you just punched me, I'm spectacular," Katie snarled as she pushed herself off the ground and hurried up the staircase to her dormitory.

"Good luck, Wood. Bell's got it in for you now," she heard Fred say as she slammed the door.


	3. Close to Home

_I'm super sorry for the long wait. Trust me, I didn't forget. I went home at the end of October and by the time I got back here, it was magically time for New Moon to premiere (if you don't like Twilight, don't worry, I'm a sane fan, and I don't care what you think). My Twilight and Harry Potter obsessions are both so overwhelming that I can't contain them in one body at the same time. So, quite simply, I had to forget about Harry Potter so I could be in a Twilight mood. But, the initial shock of the movie has blown over now, so I'm free to update much more often. Besides, I wanted to give you guys something worthy when I posted. And, I believe this is quite worthy, if I do say so myself. Enjoy!_

CHAPTER 3 - CLOSE TO HOME

The next morning came all too quickly for Katie, as she lay awake in her bed, trying her best to ignore the sunlight that was threatening to burst through the curtains of her bed. Although she hated waking up early, Katie seemed to have an internal alarm clock; she woke up automatically nearly every day at 7:00 a.m., whether she had to or not. This little quirk, however, did not mean that she was any more of a morning person than say, Fred or George. She still felt tired, all the time. And she was still extremely grumpy when she woke up, no matter the day.

Realizing all too well that falling back asleep was a lost cause, Katie defeatedly pulled back the curtains of her four poster bed (which was even more comfortable than she had remembered) and trudged her way to the bathroom to get ready for the first day of classes. She dazedly undressed from her pajamas, bracing herself for the onslaught of water, when she noticed something that had more success in waking her than the cold morning water. Right in the middle of her stomach, a large, deep purple bruise had formed. Gaping down at the purple blotch, it became evident that it was the exact size of Oliver Wood's fist.

"The bastard," Katie growled before stepping into the shower.

Being completely aware of what had transpired the previous night, Katie marched all the way down to the Great Hall when she was ready, beating the majority of the school in her angry haste. Thankful that no acquaintances were around, she threw herself down on the bench at the end of the Gryffindor table, all alone. She dumped various breakfast foods onto her plate, not putting much interest as to what they were, and irately shoved the contents into her mouth, which was set in a grimace.

The sun rose higher and higher in the sky and the enchanted ceiling lightened in hue until the rest of the school finally filed in the Great Hall, traipsing to their respective tables. Much to Katie's dismay, the Weasley twins - of course - perched themselves on either side of her.

"Beautiful morning, isn't it, George?" Fred mused.

"Why yes, Fred," George responded, "I dare say you are right."

"Oi! Good morning, Katie! Didn't see you there!" Fred remarked as he regarded her with a false look of surprise. "Did you notice her, George?"

"Not one bit. Been too quiet to attract my attention," his twin replied. "What's got your wand in a knot this morning?"

"Why don't you ask our dear, old captain?" Katie snapped. The twins pleasant faces automatically fell, remembering the incident that had occurred.

"Or you could ask him yourself..." George murmured as he looked over Katie's shoulder to see the tired form of Oliver entering the hall. Katie immediately shot up from her place at the table, overcome with annoyance, and stormed up to Oliver, who seemed to not fully grasp the oncoming danger.

"You bloody, insolent, dense, blockhead!" Katie yelled, loud enough to catch the attention of a group of Ravenclaws passing by. Oliver's eyes widened in fright; he looked as though he was debating to run back out of the hall.

"Do you have any idea what you did?" Katie still accused.

"Um... I beg your pardon?" he lulled.

"I'm not going to show you now, but just so you know, there is a bruise the size of a bludger on my stomach," Katie said with glaring eyes.

"So? I'm sure everyone on the team has had plenty of those. It shows that you're dedicated. That you'll take one for the team."

"I'm not talking about Quidditch, you obsessed idiot!" Katie bellowed. "I'm talking about the bruise that is a result of the punch you threw at my stomach last night!"

"Oh... _that_."

"Yes, _that_."

"I'm so sorry. You know I didn't mean to. I just got disoriented. Did whatever I could to stop the fight. I was aiming for a Weasley."

"Well then it's no surprise you're a keeper instead of a chaser. You need to work on your aim." And with that, Katie about-faced and made her way back to her seat at the table between the twins. Oliver guiltily followed and sat down beside George.

Katie remained furious, always one to stand her ground, and talked to no one for the next half hour or so (not that anyone took the risk of initiating conversation). Alicia and Angelina joined the team for breakfast with less than fifteen minutes to spare and automatically sensed Katie's foul mood. The girls sat across from her and excitedly chattered about the upcoming classes, hoping that they would have Defense Against the Dark Arts the first day. Fred and George made smart remarks about the gushing girls every chance they could. Oliver just ate his food, his plate piled high with every breakfast meat imaginable (he hadn't given up on the protein diet). Once the majority of the students had finished their meals, owls swooped in from every corner of the room and glided towards the tables, dropping all sorts of parcels and papers. Katie received nothing, as did the twins and Angelina. Alicia, however, had been delivered the latest copy of Witch Weekly, while Oliver, on the other hand, had obtained some Quidditch magazine with the Montrose Magpies zooming in and out of view. Both busied themselves with their gifts. Katie and the others let their eyes roam around the hall.

"-STEALING THE CAR, I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SURPRISED IF THEY'D EXPELLED YOU, YOU WAIT TILLL I GET HOLD OF YOU, I DON'T SUPPOSE YOU STOPPED TO THINK WHAT YOUR FATHER AND I WENT THROUGH WHEN WE SAW IT WAS GONE -"

Katie's head jerked to her left, along with everyone else, and she saw poor Ron Weasley, sinking so low he was almost under the table, being shrieked at by a Howler.

"Brilliant!" Fred and George beamed at each other before turning their attention back to their younger brother.

"- LETTER FROM DUMBLEDORE LAST NIGHT, I THOUGHT YOUR FATHER WOULD DIE OF SHAME, WE DIDN'T BRING YOU UP TO BEHAVE LIKE THIS, YOU AND HARRY COULD HAVE DIED -"

"You guys are never going to let him live this down are you?" Angelina asked the twins.

"Of course we are!" Fred said innocently.

"We would never hurt our dear brother like that!" George explained with wide eyes.

" - ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED - YOUR FATHER'S FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK, IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT AND IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT BACK HOME."

Then the scarlet envelope burst into flames.

The silence was almost painful. After a few awkward minutes - probably the worst minutes of Ron Weasley's life - the morning chatter broke out again, introduced by Fred and George's howls of laughter.

"Greatest - moment - of - my life!"

"Couldn't have - said - it better - myself, George!"

They continued like this, guffawing with gusto, banging their fists on the table in hysterics, as Professor McGonagall came striding down the Gryffindor table, handing out class schedules.

"Mr. Weasley and Mr. Weasley," she instructed," please try to control yourselves in a more respectable fashion."

"Sorry, professor. We were just mourning Ron."

"Merlin knows he won't be around much longer," George remarked as he lowered his eyes morosely. McGonagall's lips formed a thin line.

"It would do you well to take this event more seriously. Have the two of you ever once imagined that perhaps you were the inspiration for his actions?" Fred and George pursed their lips in thought.

"Once." Fred raised his eyebrows.

"Or twice." George raised his.

"Oh, nevermind. Here are your schedules." She handed the twins their schedules, along with the rest of the Gryffindors, and made her way back up to the High Table.

"Yes!" Alicia squeaked.

"No!" The twins knew what this joyful exclamation meant.

"We have Defense Against the Dark Arts with Slytherin today. First class," Angelina said. The bell rang, emphasizing her statement.

"Best get a move on, you know Alicia's going to want a front row seat," Katie suggested, finally breaking her enraged silence.

"She speaks!" Fred exclaimed.

"Shut it," Katie ordered. Fred obeyed.

The bell signaling the start of classes rang and students jumped up from their seats and hurried towards the exit. As predicted, Alicia scurried away. Angelina trailed after her, carrying the books Alicia had left behind in her haste. The twins took their time, not bothering to care if they were late for their first class or not. Oliver, however, made his way over to Katie's side, smiled politely at her, and grabbed her books. She eyed the boy suspiciously, appreciating the gesture, but decided against it.

"I'm quite capable of carrying my own books, thanks," Katie said with an arched brow.

"If you insist," Oliver said.

Katie began heading towards the door to the entrance hall, when she noticed Oliver on her heels. He maneuvered his way in front of her, making a path through the fumbling Slytherins, Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, and fellow Gryffindors, which Katie had to admit she was rather grateful for. But she was surprised when Oliver, who had Potions for his first class, began following her up the marble staircase, instead of heading down the small staircase to the dungeons.

"Unless I'm illiterate, I'm pretty sure your schedule said you had Potions first," Katie asserted. She tried to move away from his side, but the throng of students scuttling up the staircase prevented her from doing so.

"I do," Oliver said, nodding, as he stared straight ahead.

"Then may I inquire as to why you are currently heading up to the first floor?"

"I just wanted to make sure you were on time. As captain, it's my duty to watch out for the well-being of my teammates." They neared the door to Katie's classroom. "I can't have you being late for class. Next thing you know, it'll be missing homework, skipping classes, failing exams, and then you're kicked off the team!" He paused, seeming to argue with himself, and then opened the door and beckoned Katie to enter.

"Or you're just trying to make up for punching me," Katie interjected.

"That too," Oliver admitted sheepishly.

"Well it's not going to work. I can't be won over with cheap gallant acts. You're going to have to try harder than that to earn my apology, Wood." Then she marched inside the classroom without looking back at Oliver's puzzled face.

The next hour was dreadful. Straight away, Katie knew Lockhart was a charlatan. All he seemed to babble on about was himself, and how many times he had won Witch Weekly's Most-Charming-Smile Award. Most of the girls fell under the spell of his eyes, smile, or hair, but Katie was not one of them. Looks had never mattered much to her, as cliché as it sounded, so it came down to personality. And from what she had deduced so far in the lesson, Katie thought Lockhart's personality was rotten.

Nothing of importance was learned, or even mentioned, in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Katie, along with Angelina and Alicia, had Divination as the second class of the day. Again, not much was actually discussed, apart from the usual bantering of Professor Trelawney. Fred and George had elected to drop the class this year, despite their love of pranking the professor; they had other cauldrons to bubble (or rather, they'd prefer to spend time pestering Filch).

Lunch and dinner came and went, and all the while, Oliver kept trying to prove himself to Katie that he was worth forgiveness. He held doors open for her, he offered to fill her plate with food, he even volunteered to carry her back up to the common room when she had suggested she was tired. But Katie was persistent, and did her best to ignore his chivalrous acts.

"Don't expect me to believe that you're like this all the time," she said a few days later, after the same routine of Oliver being overly nice had grown old.

"I'm not. Only on extra special occasions. And I think you're really blowing this out of proportion, you know," he replied after he had attempted to help her through the portrait hole.

"I'm stubborn."

"I know."

"You think you know everything."

"I'm a Quidditch captain. I _should_ know everything about my team." He said it with reverence.

Katie sat herself down in an armchair by the fire. Oliver did the same. An awkward silence ensued.

"So when are you going to forgive me?" Oliver questioned.

Katie didn't answer. Instead, she stood up and crossed the room.

"Bell?"

Still no answer.

Resigned, Oliver stood up, walked over to Katie, and wrapped his arms around her.

Shocked, Katie yelled, " What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?"

"Hugging you," Oliver answered simply.

"Well, _stop_!" And she pushed him off. So hard, in fact, that he toppled over a bench into a nearby table. Judging by the sound, Katie could only assume that his fall had been pretty hard.

"You'll pay for that one, Bell," Oliver murmured ominously. He had his determined Quidditch face on now.

"Oh, really? How?"

"Practice. Tomorrow morning. Be down on the field at six. I'll leave it up to you to break the news to the rest of the team."

Katie groaned. Maybe it was about time to let go of the grudge she held against Oliver. Then again, Quidditch practice was inevitable with Oliver Wood as captain.

"SPINNET! JOHNSON! BELL! UP NOW!" Oliver's voice bellowed, hovering on his broom outside a window to the fourth year girls' dormitory.

Only Angelina made any attempt at moving. She slowly rose from her bed and slogged over to the window, which she cracked open, and faced her captain.

"Are you mad? There are other girls asleep in this dorm!" Angelina reprimanded him.

"Yes, and three of the girls in this dorm are on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Be on the pitch in fifteen minutes! And remember, you can thank Bell if you're upset with me." Then he zoomed off in the direction of the boys' dormitory (Harry must have been his next victim), not the least bit phased by the death stares of his three chasers that followed him as he went.

After making sure the other girls in the dorm had not been disturbed, Angelina attempted to dress quickly. Though she moved groggily, she still was in her Quidditch robes before neither Alicia nor Katie had so much as pulled off the covers of their beds.

"You might as well get up. You know that if you're late, he'll only make practice longer," Angelina advised her teammates. The two others moaned and yawned and stretch before they finally got out of bed and readied themselves for what was sure to be a tiring practice.

"Thanks, Katie," Alicia mumbled sarcastically as the three girls headed down the stairs to the common room.

The sun had just begun to rise as they made their way down to the locker rooms. The sky was still a light purple with splotches of bright pink and gold near the horizon. A light mist hung over the Hogwarts grounds, causing Katie, Angelina, and Alicia to shiver. When they finally arrived in the locker rooms, they noticed everyone was present, except for Harry. Alicia plopped herself down next to the twins and Katie and Angelina sat across from them. Oliver stood before them all, looking remarkably awake and enthused considering the time of day. He stared impatiently at the door, willing Harry to materialize, when he finally did.

"There you are, Harry, what kept you?" Not even bothering to wait for an answer (not that Harry was awake enough to give one), Oliver continued, "Now, I wanted a quick talk with you all before we actually get onto the field, because I spent the summer devising a whole new training program, which I really think will make all the difference...."

For the next hour, Oliver went through three different diagrammed boards, scattered with lines, arrows, and crosses, that zoomed around magically at the touch of his wand. For Katie, the information went in one ear and out the other. The only reason she was even able to stay conscious was because of watching Fred's head slump onto Alicia's shoulder, over and over again, before he finally settled there and began to snore.

"So," Oliver spoke, everyone else jerked awake, "Is that clear? Any questions?"

"I've got a question, Oliver," said George. "Why couldn't you have told us all this yesterday when we were awake?"

Oliver glimpsed at Katie, then scowled back at George before peering around the room.

"Now, listen here, you lot. We should have won the Quidditch cup last year. We're easily the best team. But unfortunately - owing to circumstances beyond our control -" An awkward silence overcame them all as Oliver recalled their loss of the last match of the previous season due to Harry's absence. Katie remembered as well; Harry had been in the Hospital Wing, still unconscious from his encounter with You-Know-Who. Everyone waited, rather impatiently, as Oliver regained his composure.

"So this year, we train harder than ever before.... Okay, let's go and put our new theories into practice!" he yelled vehemently. He swept out of the locker rooms, his team still yawning and stretching as they followed behind him.

Too Katie's dismay, Oliver blocked every single one of her shots. Although this upset her, however, she did feel accomplished when one of her failed shots hit Oliver in the head. Of course, Oliver's lapse in concentration was only due to the camera flashes coming from a small boy in the stands, but this didn't affect Katie's spirits either. _I hope he bruises_, she thought maliciously. Oliver didn't take too nicely to either of these distractions and decided it was time to take action.

"What's going on?" Oliver asked as he flew over to Harry, the object of the small boy's attention. "Why's that first year taking pictures? I don't like it. He could be a Slytherin spy, trying to find out about our new training program."

"He's in Gryffindor," Harry replied rather hastily. Katie recognized the boy; she remembered him offering her a spot in the Unofficial Harry Potter Fan Club, which she had politely declined.

"And the Slytherins don't need a spy, Oliver," George added, joining in the conversation.

"What makes you say that?" Oliver asked.

"Because they're here in person," the redhead responded, pointing to the ground. Sure enough, the Slytherin Quidditch team was making their way onto the field, with their broomsticks in their hands.

"I don't believe it!" Oliver shouted. "I booked the field for today! We'll see about this!" He darted towards the ground and stumbled off his broom in anger. Harry, Fred, and George followed behind.

"Flint! This is our practice time! We got up specially! You can clear off now!"

The Slytherin Captain smirked viciously at Oliver as he said, "Plenty of room for all of us, Wood."

Hearing this, Katie flew to the ground, followed by Alicia and Angelina. They joined the rest of the team, Gryffindor face to face with Slytherin.

"But I booked the field!" Oliver raged. "I booked it!" Flint's sneer turned even more mocking.

"Ah, but I've got a specifically signed note here from Professor Snape. _'I, Professor S. Snape, give the Slytherin team permission to practice today on the Quidditch field owing to the need to train their new Seeker._'"

This caught Oliver by surprise. "You've got a new Seeker? Where?"

A comparatively small boy with blond hair and a pointed face made his way through the six older members of the Slytherin team.

"Aren't you Lucius Malfoy's son?" Fred asked with a look of dislike. Katie understood his disapproval; she had heard particularly nasty things about this kid.

"Funny you should mention Draco's father," Flint said with a broad smile. "Let me show you the generous gift he's made to the Slytherin team."

The seven boys - no girls were on the team - held out their broomsticks. Katie saw, with jealousy and awe, gold lettering that spelled out the words _Nimbus Two Thousand and One_.

"Very latest model," Flint continued superiorly. "Only came out last month." He had obviously hit a nerve with Oliver. Even Harry's broom couldn't compare.

Flint persevered. "I believe it outstrips the old Two Thousand series by a considerable amount. As for the old Cleansweeps" - he leered at the twins who both clutched Cleansweep Fives in their hands - "sweeps the board with them."

The Gryffindor team was speechless as a whole and Oliver's eyes were slightly bulging out of their sockets.

"Oh, look. A field invasion," Flint said, breaking the silence. Katie looked to her right and saw Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger heading toward the confrontation.

"What's happening?" Ron asked Harry. "Why aren't you playing? And what's _he_ doing here?"

"I'm the new Slytherin Seeker, Weasley," Malfoy said smugly. "Everyone's just been admiring the brooms my father's bought our team."

Ron ogled at the broomstick in Malfoy's hand.

"Good, aren't they? But perhaps the Gryffindor team will be able to raise some gold and get new brooms, too. You could raffle off those Cleansweep Fives; I expect a museum would bid for them." The Slytherins howled with laughter as the Gryffindor's frowns deepened.

"At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to _buy_ their way in," Hermione defended. "_They_ got in on pure talent."

"No one asked your opinion, you filthy little Mudblood," Malfoy spat.

Katie froze. She felt like ice had flooded all of her veins.

All at once, Flint dived in front of Malfoy, Fred and George lunged at Flint, and Alicia shrieked, "_How dare you!_"

Katie thought for a moment, fumbling with her wand under her robes as she debated to take action, but Ron Weasley beat her to the punch.

A loud bang echoed across the grounds and a jet of green light shot out from the wrong end of Ron's wand. The spell hit him in the stomach and sent him backwards onto the grass.

Temporarily distracted, Katie awoke from her shocked stupor and stared at Ron who, just at that moment, belched up several slugs.

The Slytherins doubled over in laughter, some had tears in their eyes, while the Gryffindors gathered around Ron who continued to throw up slimy slugs.

"We'd better get him to Hagrid's, it's nearest," Harry said to Hermione. The two of them pulled Ron from the ground - no one else was willing to touch him.

"What happened, Harry? What happened? Is he ill? But you can cure him, can't you?" It was the small boy who had been taking pictures. Katie recognized his eager voice before she saw him. He flashed pictures left and right, trying his best to document the scene. Ron belched again and several more slugs dribbled down his chest.

"Oooh, can you hold him still, Harry?" the boy asked, fascinated.

"Get out of the way, Colin!" Harry shouted as he and Hermione did their best to maneuver with Ron's added weight. They dragged themselves clear of the audience and eventually made it out of the pitch.

The Slytherins were still cackling. Malfoy was on all fours, banging the ground with his fist. Oliver glanced at his team, defeatedly, and said, "Practice cancelled."

Alicia and Angelina hurried out of Oliver's hearing range and then excitedly cheered at being let out early. Fred and George high-fived each other, not caring if Oliver saw or not, and then ran after the girls to the locker rooms. Katie ran her fingers through her hair for a moment, erasing the traces of wind, and then started heading in the same direction, slowly.

_Filthy little Mudblood_, Malfoy echoed in her mind. Her eyes stung with tears and her fists clenched in resentment. She could feel her fingernails biting into her palm.

"I can't believe it," Oliver murmured, catching up to her. Katie kept her eyes straight ahead, ignoring her captain.

"Yeah, neither can I," Katie growled as tears started spilling over her lashes.

"I mean, I _had_ it. I was promised the pitch today! I was so ready," Oliver complained.

"Yeah," Katie snarled, absolutely fuming.

"Wow, Bell. I didn't know you were quite so passionate," Oliver mused, less angry and desperate, as he glanced down at Katie's tear-stained face.

"Not everything is about Quidditch, you idiot," she shot back, peering up at him furiously. She quickened her pace. Oliver hurried to her side once more.

"What's wrong, Katie?" He sounded worried, but Katie couldn't be sure whether it was out of genuine concern or care of a teammates mental stability.

"Nothing."

"Even an _idiot_ as big as me isn't fooled by that one," he persisted. "What's wrong?"

"It's none of your business."

"_You're_ my business."

Katie ignored his comment and stomped on towards the locker rooms. This time, Oliver didn't try to catch up.

By the time Katie made it to her destination, the locker rooms were empty. The rest of the team, in their excitement, had changed out of their robes at lightening speed and had already run up to the castle, anxious for breakfast. Katie changed, taking her time, and then sat down on a bench and hugged her knees to her chest. With no one around, it was hard to tune out Malfoy's words. Each repetition stabbed her in the chest and forced more tears from her eyes. She decided, since she had the privacy, she might as well let the misery take her while there was no one to watch.

Yes, the words hadn't specifically been aimed at her, but they had hit as close to home as possible. No one knew Katie was a Muggleborn. She didn't feel the need to tell anyone. In her opinion, parentage did not make the wizard. Magic made the wizard. So she kept her Muggle parents a secret.

She cried softly, but heavily, as she was assaulted by the insult over and over again.

"Katie," a voice whispered from the entrance.

She looked up from her knees, her vision blurred by tears, and saw Oliver's form in the doorway. Katie's mind was so consumed in hurt that she didn't have it in her to tell him to leave. He walked over to her and placed himself down on the bench, and -unsure of himself- wrapped his arms around her. Not bothering to reject him again, she cried on Oliver's shoulder until the pain subsided.

"I'm okay now," Katie mumbled as she lifted her head and wiped her eyes.

"No, you're not. What's wrong?" Oliver questioned one more time. Mostly over the pain, Katie became annoyed again.

"Why should I tell you? It's not like you'd care anyways," Katie accused.

"Of course I care," he said comfortingly.

"Oh, really? Well, obviously you never cared enough to ask me about my parentage."

Oliver's mouth fell open, but then he snapped it shut once he gained his composure.

"Katie... I... I'm so sorry."

Katie gave up, tired of arguing. She got up and turned to her locker and began digging through its contents.

"It's fine. I wouldn't have told you the truth anyway."

"Why not?" Oliver watched her with hesitant but caring eyes. He wasn't sure how long it would be before she blew up at him again.

"I don't want anyone to know." She closed her locker and made her way back to Oliver, sat down, and handed him a photograph.

He held the picture in his hands. The woman and man in the photo didn't wave hello or even blink. They didn't move at all.

"These are your parents?"

"Yep. And they're one-hundred percent non-magical."

"I can see that," Oliver answered as he tipped the picture this way and that, willing its subjects to move.

"You won't tell anyone, will you?" Katie asked, gazing at Oliver with pleading eyes. She had never told anyone before, and she wasn't exactly best friends with Oliver Wood. What would stop him from telling his friends? She knew Flint would find out, especially if he could use it to his advantage.

"Of course not. That's a promise. Now, come on. They're going to stop serving breakfast soon." He got up from his place on the bench and began heading towards the exit when something occurred to Katie.

"Hey!" she called after him. "How come you were down here so long too?" He smiled and then looked embarrassed.

"Oh, um... I was having my own little episode, you could say. You know I don't handle defeat well."

"Yeah, I know."

"And, as you figured out, there's no better place to drown in your sorrow than in an empty locker room. Promise you won't tell anyone I'm a baby?" Oliver smiled sheepishly as he waited for Katie's answer.

"Promise," she declared. She rose from her seat and walked with Oliver back up to the castle.


	4. Tricks and Treats

_So I'm home for Christmas break right now. Due to all the free time, I've been writing like crazy. Unfortunately, my wireless isn't working in my house for some reason so I'm being forced to go out and find places with free Wifi (my favorite place to write is the Seattle's Best Coffee at my local Borders). So, I've been very busy writing. The only reason I haven't updated is because I haven't had internet. At least it's a long one :) On another note, since I'm American and J.K. Rowling's characters are not, I'm trying my best to keep the dialect accurate (especially in this chapter). So if you're Scottish or British, I'm really sorry if I'm hacking up your language. I'm trying my best haha. Now, without further ado, on to chapter the fourth!_

CHAPTER 4 - TRICKS AND TREATS

"I still can't believe that idiot boy had the nerve use that word," Alicia moaned after dinner when the whole team, minus Harry, was gathered in the common room.

"I know! The nerve of him! Just because he thinks he's better than everyone else, it doesn't give him the right to throw such language around like it's nothing," Angelina added. "I mean, did you see Hermione's face?" Katie looked down at her lap at that moment, just as a blush began to color her cheeks. She had seen Hermione's face, but she hadn't needed to have seen it to know what Hermione's expression would've looked like; it would've mirrored her own.

"You know, if you girls would like, we _could_ get even with him," Fred suggested.

"You had better not. You think I want my own friends sinking to that scum's level?" Alicia said.

"Heavens, we'd never hit _that_ below the belt! Alicia, it's like you don't know us at all!" George said, shock on his face.

"Of course not, we wouldn't even harm a hair on his greasy head!" Fred said. "But, we could slip a few dungbombs into his underwear."

"Exactly. His ego could use a nice harming."

"And just how do you plan on getting your hands on his underwear?" Angelina said, a smug look on her face.

"Oh, we have our ways," the twins replied together.

"You can go ahead and plant tentacula in his hair if you need to. I don't care," Oliver said. "Just don't get kicked off the team."

"Will do, captain!" Fred and George both said with a salute before they headed up to the fourth year boys' dormitory to plan their revenge.

"You know, they're probably going to try to do that now," Angelina chided.

"But tentacula is dangerous," Oliver said, like it meant nothing.

"Like that's ever stopped them before" Angelina said.

"Well, if you ask me," Oliver focused on Katie, "that boy deserves whatever trouble is coming his way."

"Never said he didn't," Angelina replied.

Katie stared into Oliver's eyes, fearing for the slightest second that he would expose her; he only stared back with a small smile on his lips.

Not a day passed without rain as October came and went. The interference from the Slytherins had only motivated Oliver even further - if that was possible. He was absolutely drowning in determination until one afternoon when the Weasley twins had reported that they'd seen firsthand the jaw-dropping power and speed of the Nimbus Two Thousand and Ones. This dreadful bit of information had heightened his enthusiasm so much that he didn't even chastise the twins about spying on the opposing team. Instead, he scheduled a practice during one particular nasty storm a few days before Halloween, not that anyone was surprised by his doing so. Due to the rain, the wind, the cold, and the feeling of all around hopelessness, everyone on the team grew miserable, and by the time practice was over, their spirits were almost as damp as their robes. Oliver gave up on trying to inspire the team and cancelled all practices until after Halloween.

With the lack of Quidditch, Katie spent as much time as possible the next few days holed up in the Gryffindor common room getting a head start on a Transfiguration essay. Angelina was prompted to do the same while Alicia spent most of her newfound free time procrastinating.

"I don't see why you're wasting your time doing homework when you could be doing _anything_ else," Alicia said on the last afternoon of the month. "I mean, it's Halloween for Merlin's sake!"

"At least we're doing _something_," Angelina said without looking up from her parchment.

"Yeah, at least we have lives," Katie agreed with a nod and a quick glance at Alicia.

"Humph." Alicia folded her arms and glared at her teammates before she raised her eyebrows and said," You're one to talk, Bell. About having a life, I mean."

"And what's that supposed to mean, Spinnet?"

A few second years in nearby armchairs raised their heads in interest.

"It means that all you think about is Quidditch."

"That's not true! I...I think about lots of things."

"Oh, really? Like what?"

"Like...school. And friends. And boys. And teachers. And my family and-"

"Hello, ladies! We thought it was your raised voices we had heard. It seems as though we were correct in that assumption, wouldn't you agree, Fred?" One twin plopped down on the armrest of Katie's chair, right in between Katie and Alicia.

"Couldn't have said it better myself, George." Fred placed himself on the armrest of Alicia's chair and faced his twin. "Simply brilliant. And you have stunning good looks, might I add."

"Oh, stop it, Fred," George said with a dismissive wave of his hand, "you're making me blush." He batted his lashes and averted his gaze from the group.

"Finally, someone to break this up," said Angelina, who had been ignoring the squabble brewing between her teammates by focusing on her essay.

"Actually, that was exactly what we had in mind. You see, we found that it was rather too boring in here today," Fred said.

"And we thought of another way to get revenge on that greasy blond git," George continued.

"And it just so happened that Hagrid was _torturing_ this poor salamander, so we rescued him," Fred finished as he presented a bright orange salamander to the girls.

"Just what do you plan to do with it?" Katie asked hesitantly, though welcoming of the distraction. Whatever the Weasleys had in store was sure to be entertaining.

Fred placed the salamander on the table before them. "Oh, Katie, dearest. This isn't a manner of planning. This is a matter of action."

With that, George produced a Filibuster firework from inside of his robes and stuck it inside the fire-dwelling lizard's mouth. By now, a rather large group had pooled around the table and were watching in anticipation as the salamander began to emit large amounts of smoke.

"What's going on here?" Katie heard a strong Scottish accent ask quite close to her ear. Oliver.

She turned her head to see his face only inches from hers, resting on the back of the armchair.

"Oh...um, the twins just fed a Filibuster to a salamander. Like, maybe three minutes ago?"

"Hmm...," Oliver said. Katie had never been this close to him. She'd never really noticed exactly how warm his brown eyes were. "How long do you think it'll take for something to happen?"

"Warm," was all she said.

"Excuse me?"

"Wha- uh...not long. The salamander is pretty warm," she hedged lamely.

"Well, salamanders do live in fire, Bell," Oliver said with a raised eyebrow as his eyes burned into Katie's.

"I know, I just..." Katie could've sworn she literally saw sparks begin to fly as she gazed into Oliver's too close, too warm, too beautiful eyes, and he gazed back. Then she realized with sudden attention that it was the salamander. The lizard had exploded into the air and was now emitting bright sparks as it banged around the ceiling. Every head in the common room - including Katie - followed the lizard as it whizzed around the room before it flew into the fireplace and disappeared. The room then grew even louder in volume as the crowd broke out into applause and howls of laughter which couldn't compare to that of the twins. Percy began yelling himself hoarse at his brothers - who of course couldn't be bothered in their fits of laughter - and everyone else had seemed to forgotten about their previous affairs and instead focused on the early Halloween entertainment. Katie then abruptly remembered Oliver's close proximity and turned her head once more, expecting to meet his warm brown eyes, but she did not. Oliver was nowhere to be seen. Eventually, the crowd dispersed and the members of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, barring Oliver, were left to themselves, still chuckling about the salamander spectacle.

"If you guys thought _that_ was amusing, we have something else planned for tonight," Fred hinted when most of the laughter had died down.

"But that depends on your willingness to miss the Halloween feast," George added. "Then again, it's not like that silly little feast could ever compare to something concocted by the great and honorable Weasley twins. And of course, this is team exclusive. No one else."

"I'm in," Alicia said without any further explanation.

"You can count me in too," Angelina said. "Someone is going to have to keep an eye on everyone."

"I'll come too," Katie said. "What about Oliver? Does he know?"

"Naturally. Captain knows all, remember?" Fred answered.

"Alright, so it's settled then. Everyone meet in our dormitory at seven. Don't worry about food," George said before he and Fred left and headed out the portrait hole.

Katie, as well as Angelina, turned her attention back to her essay while Alicia went back to doing nothing. After several minutes of attempted work, Alicia finally broke their silence.

"So, you think about boys, huh? Any boys in particular?" Alicia's expression had morphed into a look Katie was familiar with: meddlesome.

"No one in particular. Just in general. You know, like a teenage girl should."

"Mhmmmm," Alicia replied with a smirk.

Hours seemed to pass with every rain drop that pelted against the windows and just when everyone's stomachs began to grumble, it was time for the Halloween feast. Gryffindors filed out of the common room to head down to the Great Hall, eagerly awaiting the giant jack-o-lanterns and the supposed skeleton dancing troupe Dumbledore was rumored to have booked for the event. After the common room had emptied, except for Harry and the twins' younger brother, Ron, Katie and Angelina packed up their books, scrolls, quills, and ink and headed up the stairs to the boys' dormitories with Alicia following behind. After magicking her books away, Angelina knocked on the door to Fred and George's dorm.

"Come in!" a twin's voice called from the other side of the door.

Angelina pushed the door open and the aroma of butterbeer, apple, and pumpkin swam from the room. The entire dorm was empty of its usual furnishings, instead decorated with large, squashy orange beanbag chairs that resembled the giant pumpkins in Hagrid's garden. Dozens of various colored smaller pumpkins floated by the ceiling, like a miniature version of the Great Hall, and on one of several tables, lay the still smoldering salamander from earlier, still emitting occasional sparks. This time, however, there was no fireplace for the lizard to escape to.

Fred and George were already sitting in two of the pumpkin-like beanbags with their wands in their hands.

"Sit down," Fred said, motioning to the available chairs.

"And get out your wands," George instructed.

All three girls tentatively pulled their wands from their robes as they sat down opposite the twins.

George continued. "If you're wondering what we have planned, we decided-"

The door opened again, this time, it was Oliver entering.

"Hope I haven't missed anything. Just had to return _Quidditch Through the Ages_ to the library," he said.

"You think we didn't know that already?" Fred said.

"Or care?" George added.

Oliver simply ignored their comments and made his way into the circle of bean bag chairs. Of course, the remaining seat was next to Katie.

"As we were saying before we were so _rudely_ interrupted," George shot a glare towards Oliver, "we decided tonight would be as good a night as any to experiment with a few new spells."

"George-" Angelina started.

"Calm down, dear child, nothing dangerous. Just a few harmless spells. All in good fun!"

"That's what you always say," Angelina said.

"And it's always fun. I see a trend here," Fred said looking at his twin.

"I daresay I do as well. Anyways, everyone have their wands out? Good. Now let's see who will be going first."

George pointed to a top hat that was on the table in the middle of the room.

"What, are we going to pull names from a hat?" Katie asked.

"Yes," George answered.

"But that's so... Muggle," Oliver said.

"I never said _we_ would actually be doing the pulling. Who do you think we are, our dad?" George then tapped the top hat with his wand and sparks burst out of the inside, forming Alicia's name in midair.

"Excellent!" Fred exclaimed. "Perfect specimen to go first!"

"Uh...Fred, George, exactly what is it I'm going to be doing?" Alicia stammered.

"Ever heard of the Muggle game Truth or Dare?" George answered.

"I have," Katie answered. Of course.

"Well, this is a slight variation of it. Except, think of it more as Dare or Dare. But with spells."

"Just a few simple little spells we've invented. We promise we won't hurt you or your pride in any way."

"Okay...." Alicia answered.

"Basically, it's like a minor, less powerful, legal Imperius Curse. You can defy it if you want. I guess you could say it just gives you a bit of a courage boost. Nothing Azkaban-worthy."

"Everything you do is Azkaban-worthy," Angelina said with a roll of her eyes.

"Alright, now! Alicia, we dare you to roll around on the ground while yelling "I love Lee Jordan" at the top of your lungs while being wrapped in this." George flicked his wand once and a blanket with Lee's face in the center appeared. George waved his wand once more and immediately, Alicia got up and wrapped herself in the blanket then dropped to the floor and began rolling around, shouting Lee's name over and over.

After the laughter had died down a bit, Angelina said, " She seems to be enjoying this."

"We knew she would," Fred and George said in unison with huge satisfied smiles on each of their faces. "Next!"

Alicia slowly came back to sanity and crawled back to her spot, still wrapped in the blanket, as Fred tapped the hat this time. In a matter of seconds, his own name glittered in the air, along with Angelina's.

"This should be good," Oliver muttered.

"Brilliant," Alicia beamed, still showing traces of the spell as she snuggled more into her blanket.

George pointed his wand at Fred and then pointed his wand at Angelina and then thought for a moment. Just when a look of realization dawned on George's face, the salamander hiccuped and burst into the air, almost like a lightbulb going off in George's head.

"Fred, Angelina, I want you both to kiss each other as passionately as possible while pretending the other is your dream man or woman, as the case may be. But for Merlin's sake, keep your clothes on. We see enough balls on the Quidditch pitch."

"Or lack thereof if you're on the Slytherin team," Oliver prodded as he nudged Katie in the ribs with his elbow. She giggled and Alicia raised an eyebrow.

Angelina and Fred were already in a passionate embrace, eating each others' faces off. Everyone else in the room watched with anticipating - and slightly disturbed - eyes, waiting to see whom Fred and Angelina were thinking of while they swapped spit.

Moans both began building in each of the pretend-for-the-moment-lovers until finally Angelina yelped, "Fred!" at the same time that Fred cried out, "Angelina!"

"What a shock," Alicia said.

"More like what a waste," George said.

"Then if you already knew they'd choose each other, why'd you give them that dare?" Katie asked.

"Just so I could hear them admit it already. Do you have any idea how much time I spend with Fred? And how much he talks about 'Angelina this and Angelina that?'"

"I'm guessing just about as much time as I spend with Angelina and how much she talks about Fred," Alicia said.

"If you think you pestering her for information until she goes insane and gives in is her talking about Fred, then you're right," Katie said.

"I don't _pester_. I _assist_."

"Assist, my ass," Katie smiled.

When Angelina and Fred had finally pulled apart and were only staring lovingly into the others' eyes, George tapped the hat again and the dares continued.

After everyone had gone by themselves at least once, Katie's and Oliver's names shot simultaneously from the hat and twinkled in the center of the room.

"You two are going to snog for ten minutes straight. No pretend soul mates or anything this time, just pure teenage hormonal lust." George flicked his wand once. "Oh, and we won't be watching. Go as far as you'd like."

As soon as the spell took affect, Katie felt her eyes glaze over. Everything blurred around the edges except for Oliver as she lunged at him. Like some kind of magnetic attraction had formed between them, Oliver's lips were on Katie's in no time, showing no signs of any pending separation. Katie's mouth moved right with Oliver's, her hands traveling all over his chest, waist, shoulders. Oliver's hands trembled over Katie's own waist and back as her fingers twined themselves in his hair. Katie's lips wandered down from Oliver's jaw to his neck, where they stayed. Seconds seemed like hours and hours passed like seconds as Katie kissed and kissed Oliver. She had just begun kissing him on the lips again when without warning, she heard hoots and hollers echoing around the room and someone shouting.

"Stop! Stop before I vomit! Your time is up!" Fred was yelling from somewhere in the room. Instantly breaking apart from Oliver, Katie looked for the source of the shouting when the room came in to painfully disorienting clarity, like she had been wearing someone else's eyeglasses for fun and had just taken them off. Angelina was staring with wide eyes and Alicia had the smuggest look on her face. George was making retching noises.

"What?" Katie said, feeling unbelievably disoriented.

"I only said ten minutes, not ten hours." Fred said with an accompanying gagging sound.

"That lasted ten hours!?" Katie shrieked, panic-stricken.

"Bloody hell, no! My corneas would've burned by then. But I never expected you to go for a half hour!" Fred exclaimed.

Katie immediately looked down at her lap, fearing what the others were thinking, especially Oliver. Had it been she who had gotten carried away and persisted after the demanded amount of time? Had she said anything she would've regretted? Everything was a blur, much like during the actual dare itself, except for Oliver's lips and what it felt like to kiss him.

"I think it's time we eat," George insisted, breaking the awkward silence. He waved his wand and dozens upon dozens of pies piled high on one of the empty tables and a giant vat of pumpkin juice appeared next to that.

"Do you ever not have food on your mind?" Angelina asked him.

"Do you ever not have Fred on your mind?" he retorted.

"Touché," she admitted as everyone rose to fill the golden plates and goblets that had just appeared from Fred's wand.

Once the final pies had been devoured by Fred, George, and Oliver (who had insisted that his protein diet allowed him one free day a month), Fred silenced everyone to make an announcement.

"Now, if you thought dares were fun, this is the second round. Truth or Truth, as George and I like to call it. With this." From inside his robes, he pulled out a tiny vial filled to the brim with clear liquid.

"But isn't that-" Alicia began.

"Veritaserum? You bet your billiwigs, it is," George said with a mischievous grin.

"But how'd you get it?" Alicia asked.

"Need I remind you who we are? We don't have our own drawer in Filch's office for nothing." He passed around the small vial as one by one, everyone took a sip.

Once everyone had the truth potion running through their system, Fred continued,"Anyways, the only rule is any question can be asked. No need trying to deny any answers."

"So, let us see who will be the first victim this time, shall we?" George said as he prodded the hat with his wand. Oliver's name fireworked up at the ceiling.

"Oliver! Hmm... if you absolutely had to snog one or the other, who would it be: Snape or Quirrell?"

"Quirrell," Oliver answered without the slightest pause. Everyone in the room busted into fits of laughter.

Once everyone except the twins had gained their composure, Angelina asked, "It wouldn't bother you that You-Know-Who would've been on the other side of his head?"

"Or that you'd be snogging a corpse!" Fred howled from the floor where he was rolling around in hysterics.

Again, Oliver answered instantaneously, "At least he's not greasy. I'd rather have that onion smell."

The laughter erupted from everyone once more and lasted through Fred jabbing the hat with his wand and the emission of Katie's name.

"Ooh! Ooh! Let me do this one!" Alicia yelled over the giggles. No one bothered to answer so she pushed on. She faced Katie with an impish smile.

"Katie. Who would _you_ rather snog?" Katie nervously braced herself for the option that was sure to come. "Fred or George?"

"Oliver," Katie blurted out immediately.

"That's what I thought," Alicia said with a sly grin. Katie quickly risked a glance at Oliver who was, as she had feared, looking at her. Her eyes widened in alarm and he awkwardly smiled out of politeness before swiftly breaking eye contact. The team giggled a bit but died down quicker than before.

"I'm bored. New question!" George shouted as he touched his wand to the hat which eje!cted Fred's name and then asked, "If you had to jump in front of a bullet for ONE person, who would it be?"

"Mom."

Everyone in the room went into choruses of "aww...." except George, whose response was a furious "not me!?"

"Next," Angelina said with an eye roll as she tapped the hat causing Oliver's name to form in the air.

"Oliver, why do you think you're so bloody good at Quidditch?" Angelina asked.

Oliver choked slightly and his eyes widened before he looked at Katie pleadingly. "Because I'm a Pureblood."

The room silenced. Katie felt as though she'd just been punched in the stomach. Every heartbeat boomed louder as the seconds passed by and Malfoy's face filled her mind, his roaring laughter charging her thoughts. She dared not look around, for fear that her expression would give away her secret.

"I have to go," Katie gushed, unable to form an excuse due to the Veritaserum still in her veins. Angelina was the first to say something.

"Oliver...how could you say that?" was the last thing Katie heard as she escaped through the door.

Katie flew down the stairs and out the portrait hole without a glance behind her.

OLIVER'S POINT OF VIEW

"Oliver...how could you say that?" Angelina asked me. I stared at Katie's figure retreating out the door, horrorstruck, before I understood what was being asked of me.

"No! Not like that! Let me explain! Both my mother and father played Quidditch. As in there was never any doubt that I would be a Quidditch player. It doesn't have anything to do with parentage, just who my parents are! And my parents just happen to be Pureblood! "

Everyone just bewilderedly looked at me. I don't know what my expression looked like exactly, but it probably resembled Katie's when I'd stupidly answered Angelina's question. Eventually, the tension eased because everyone knew my explanation was no falsehood; the Veritaserum was still in effect.

But _Katie_. Katie, Katie, Katie.

Her face. I knew exactly what she would think the moment Angelina finished speaking. I couldn't help but blurt out the first truthful answer that came to my mind. I had no idea how to fix this. I mean, yes, we had grown slightly closer over the past few weeks, but not enough to gain her trust this much. Damn it!

"George, you're going next. You've hardly done anything!" Alicia called. George nodded with a determined face. "What's the trickiest thing you've done recently?"

I realized I had no choice but to go after her and try to explain. Even if she didn't accept any apology, it shouldn't be that much of a loss, right? We were never really friends anyway. Just teammates. Only professional.

But I still had to try.

I shot up from my seat and ran out the door just as George answered, "I didn't charm Oliver on the dare to kiss Katie. He did it of his own accord. Sneaky, eh?"

I knew exactly where she would be: the Quidditch pitch. I remembered what she had said about the comforting solitude of the locker rooms and couldn't help but picture her, curled up in a ball again, knees to her chest, only this time, sobbing over my idiocy.

As I hurried to the ground level, each floor grew more crowded. The feast had already ended and everyone was returning to their houses. It was on the second floor before I'd had any setback. A crowd consisting of students from every house congested the entire corridor - blocking my way to the staircase - looking at something on one of the walls. It was a complete gridlock.

"Oliver!" Alicia's voice called out from behind me. I whipped around and saw her, Fred, George, and Angelina running in my direction.

"What's wrong, mate?" Fred asked.

"Yeah, we thought you'd gotten sick or something," George said.

"I just wanted to find Katie. She...she had told me she was...feeling sick earlier. That was why she ran out." Great excuse, Wood. Well, at least the Veritaserum had lost it's effect. _Shite_. That meant I had no excuse for Katie to believe my explanation.

"You had better be careful, Wood," Angelina warned me. "If Katie's sick, she's gonna have a bit of a temper."

"Yeah, we'd prefer not to have you beat each..." Alica started before her eyes widened in terror at something behind me. Fred's, George's, and Angelina's expressions mirrored hers. I pivoted to see what had caught everyone's attention and that was when I saw it.

THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE.

Even from where I stood, towards the back of the crowd and over the heads of the mass of students, I could tell the words were written in blood. But there was also something else on the wall, hanging from the torch bracket, that was indiscernible. It didn't take long for the whispers to travel from the front of the crowd to the back: it was Filch's cat, literally scared stiff, hard as stone. Maybe dead.

"Enemies of the heir, beware!" I heard a voice shout from up front. "You'll be next, Mudbloods!"

My stomach felt like it had exploded and my heart had sputtered and died. For a second, nothing moved, nothing sounded. Then everything became so crystal clear that it was painful.

"I have to find Katie! _Now!_" I shouted at the team as I pushed my way through the students, desperately trying to reach the staircase.

I shoved as many students out of my way as hard as I could. _What if something had happened? What if it was all my fault? __**What if I was too late?**_

"NO!" I roared as I rammed the last remaining students out of the way and shot down the staircase and out the front doors.


	5. Explanations

_Whew, this one came out quicker than I would've expected! It was hard to write though, believe me. I hope it's an okay chapter. I really wanted to write this scene, unbelievably bad, but every time I actually sat down to work on it, I couldn't think of how to write it . I hope it's not as choppy and unrealistic as it seems to me. Let me know in the reviews and maybe I'll change some things around. Oh, and for the future, I'll keep in mind that being flustered and anxious at the same time doesn't really work out so well. Credit to J.K. Rowling where credit is due. Chapter Five!!_

CHAPTER 5 - EXPLANATIONS

Katie soared through the air, speeding around the pitch, and with every lap that she made, she imagined she was racing _his_ no-good-Quidditch-obsessed-Pureblood-loving-arse. Unlike the pain she felt when Malfoy had insulted Hermione, betrayal coursed through Katie's veins now. She had trusted Oliver, more than she had ever trusted a person at Hogwarts. Of course, she had known this would end badly. She wasn't really friends with Oliver anyway. In her eyes, he was an idiot and a jerk and completely incapable of having any kind of human relationship because of those traits. No, no tears fell from Katie's eyes now. All she felt was rage, rage that wasn't dissipating as she soared through the nighttime sky.

"Bell!" Oliver's voiced called from somewhere in her mind.

Katie screeched to a stop in midair. _Shut the bloody hell up_, she told the figment of imagination, _I don't want to hear anymore of your worthless promises._

Not that Oliver had promised her he was a fan of Muggleborns. She knew that. But she had assumed that he understood. She wouldn't have even bothered telling him the truth if he hadn't. But Oliver didn't understand, not even close, and Katie had told him her biggest secret. _What a mistake_, she thought again.

"Katie!"

"Shut up!" Katie actually called out this time, too frustrated to stay quiet.

"No. I have something to say to you."

She turned around so fast she nearly fell of her broom. Oliver was not three feet in front of her, hovering, blocking her way, sweat shimmering on his forehead in the moonlight.

"Sorry, I don't associate with liars," Katie spat as she tried to pass him. He blocked her. She feinted to the right. He blocked her again. She stared him down resolutely, ready to just plow right through him.

"Bell, I'm a keeper. You're not going to get past me until I get a chance to explain."

Without her determined glare faltering, she waited for Oliver to speak.

"I don't think I'm better than everyone else at Quidditch because I'm Pureblood."

"Oh, really? Because that's not what you said before. _With_ Veritaserum." Katie made sure she was steady on her broom and then crossed her arms defiantly.

"I only said that because I'm an idiot who blurts out the first thought that comes to mind."

"You're right. You are an idiot."

"The reason I said that was because my parents are both Quidditch players. I was practically destined to play Quidditch. It's all I've ever known. And, both of my parents just happen to be Pureblood. Do I think that's why I'm good? No. But I probably wouldn't have been as good if my parents had been Muggles because I wouldn't have grown up with it. I'm not just naturally talented. Not like you."

"Why should I believe you now? I know that you're not being forced to tell the truth anymore. Not that you ever did before."

"Because I'm not lying, I promise"

The word 'promise' sent Katie over the edge.

"Rubbish!" she shouted as she hurled herself right at Oliver. He dodged her, just about falling off his broom in the process, and she zoomed past him.

Katie pushed her broom as fast as it would go. She heard Oliver behind her, no doubt also flying at top speed. Not wanting to give up, she resolved to keep flying until he gave in and flew off. Oliver had other plans.

"Fine! If you won't stop, then I won't either! I'm not captain for nothing! If anyone has stamina, it's me!"

"Shut the bloody hell up, Wood!" Katie repeated again, this time aloud. "No one cares about your stupid Quidditch obsession!"

"Oh really? Are you saying you're not obsessed?"

"No! I'm not! Unlike you, I actually have a life! And friends!"

"You do not! I think I'd know if you had friends!"

Katie immediately came to a stop. So abrupt was her halt, Oliver almost ran into her. He quickly swerved to the left, narrowly missing the tail of Katie's broom.

"Take it back," Katie growled.

"Not until you believe me when I say I'm telling the truth about my parents."

"Why should I believe you?"

"Because I'm your friend."

"I thought you said I didn't have any friends."

"I wasn't including myself."

"What makes you think you qualify to be my friend?"

"I think we've been through enough to be considered friends now."

"What makes you say that?"

Oliver paused. He audibly gulped. Katie waited, impatiently, as she tried to keep her temper under control.

"Spit it out, Wood."

"Well, when I...tonight...when we...tonight..."

"Wood!"

"When we kissed."

"_I_ didn't do anything. I was being controlled by a spell." _Not that I minded_, Katie thought to herself, _but that's besides the point_.

"I wasn't."

Katie's eyes shot wide open, burning into Oliver's with anger or surprise, she wasn't sure. She couldn't think of anything to say, especially anything that wouldn't insult Oliver, so she stayed quiet while he continued.

"I never thought about kissing you. Honestly. But once you started kissing me...I didn't want it to stop."

"W-why the sudden development?" Katie had never really thought about Oliver either, at least not until today. He was just her annoying, idiotic Quidditch captain. A captain that suddenly had some sort of interest in her.

"Have you heard what happened in the castle? Of course not, you had already left..." He seemed to be talking to himself. "We need to get back!"

Katie jumped at Oliver's sudden intensity. He swiftly grabbed her by the hand and tried to pull her - both of them still on their brooms - towards the castle.

"Please, Katie, have to get back now!"

She stared dumbfounded at him, still not sure what to make of the whole situation and Oliver's mood swings.

"I promise I'll explain once we are inside! Just move on!"

Still unsure, Katie decided she was too frustrated to continue arguing with Oliver and without a word, followed him back to the castle. They sped up to the windows of the fourth year girls' dormitory in Gryffindor Tower. Katie rapped impatiently on the glass, praying someone would be inside. In a matter of seconds, Angelina frantically opened the window.

"Where have you been? Are you okay? What's wrong?" she erupted before Katie was even inside all the way.

"I...I'm fine."

"Where were you?" Angelina tried again.

"I was on the pitch."

"Now!?" Angelina screeched.

"Are you alone?," Oliver said as he entered the room. He didn't have to ask the question; Angelina was quite visibly the only girl in the room.

"What are you doing here?" Angelina questioned him.

"I found her. I need to talk to her, but I wasn't about to keep her outside."

"No, of course not. Did you tell her?"

"About what?" Katie asked amidst the confusion. No one acknowledged her.

"Not yet. I'm getting there. Can we have some privacy? I don't want her to panic."

"About what!?" Katie yelled agitatedly.

"Sure. I'll be down in the common room with everyone else." And then she left.

"Tell me. Now," Katie demanded as Oliver sat on her bed. He put his head in his hands.

"Let me finish what I started outside first. Then I'll tell you what happened."

"No. I want to know what happened and I want to know _now_."

Oliver looked up at her, pleading with his eyes, but she remained adamant.

"Have you ever heard of the Chamber of Secrets?" he said resignedly.

"No."

"I don't think anyone has. Well, it's been opened, whatever it is. Something terrible is going on in the school. No one really knows what is going on, only that Filch's cat was petrified."

"Petrified?"

"Turned to stone. It happened on the second floor." Then, Oliver recounted his experience when he had left to find her.

"Next? Muggleborns?" Katie whispered. She sank onto the foot of her bed, opposite Oliver, her face clouded with despair.

"That's only what someone said. I don't know what it means. But I won't let anyone or anything hurt you. Which brings me back to earlier."

Katie said nothing.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm not going to lie, I don't know. Just...talk," Katie sighed.

Oliver looked around the room, trying to find the words to say. He wasn't sure if Katie was too flustered to really listen or not, but he continued on with his confession.

"Katie, there's just something about you. I didn't realize it until you kissed me, but I think it was just building. I mean, you have a temper. So do I. I need someone to keep me in check. You're not some helpless, boy crazy, girl. You _do_ have a life, even though it may not be much outside of Quidditch. You trusted _me_. Not many people do outside of the Quidditch pitch. Look, I never cared or thought about it before, but when you ran out of the room earlier, I felt something. Maybe it was just care for a friend. I don't know, I'm confused. But I felt _something_. And when I saw what was written on the wall and heard what that boy said, all I could think of was you and what could've happened. It's just-"

"Stop," Katie interrupted. Oliver immediately complied. Katie turned to face Oliver from the foot of her bed where he sat cross-legged by the headboard. "I'm sorry, I just...can't really handle this right now. It's too much in one night."

"But-"

"Please. For a friend." And then, for the first time in hours, Katie lips turned up into a small smile.

"Come here," Oliver said, holding out his arms.

Katie moved next to him and rested her head on his shoulder. Abruptly, she felt exhausted; the endless laps around the pitch (and the consternation of the night's events) had caught up with her.

"I'm sorry for being so stubborn," Katie mumbled out of the blue.

"Don't be. That's one of the things I like about-"

"Don't." Oliver again obeyed.

"Well, then I'm sorry for punching you. Will you finally accept my apology?"

Katie laughed, though with a hint of hysteria, and said, "Sure." Katie's eyes drooped closed and the bed became much more comfortable than it had been several minutes before.

"And what about today?"

"Yes. Just _please_ think before you speak next time."

"Only if you swear not to impulsively run out of the room the next time you think you've been lied to. I won't ever lie to you, Katie."

There was no reply.

Oliver glanced down and saw Katie, already dead asleep, drooling on his shoulder.


	6. Distractions

_There are several reasons why it took so long for this installment to grace with its presence: One, break ended, so not only was I trying to take as much advantage of my time home as possible, but I also had to return to my boring but busy college life. Two, I unexpectedly fell for one of my best friends. I should've seen it coming, though. Anyways, it was hard to stay focused on this (especially to plow through a Quidditch match) with my head in the clouds. This boy is perfect in my eyes and Oliver is not, so I don't want my own romantic interest to influence Oliver, which is why I needed time for it to die down a bit. Alas, nothing further can happen with this kid seeing as he is in Ohio and I am in Maryland for another month, so there is no need to worry about me getting distracted again. Speaking of distractions, on to the sixth chapter! Credit to J.K.R._

CHAPTER 6 - DISTRACTIONS

_It was a crisp autumn night and Katie was flying, zooming in and out of a forest of fir trees shrouded in mist. She couldn't pinpoint why, but she had the feeling something or someone was following her, following her every move, but she was too perturbed to turn around and check. She flew faster, trying to outrun her possible pursuer, but right when she felt she was about to escape, a stone wall appeared in front of her, blocking her getaway. Frantically, she flew parallel to the wall, praying that a window or door would manifest. Quite suddenly, a giant, ornate window emerged in the masonry. Without any other hope of escape, Katie sharply wrenched her broom to the right and smashed through the glass. Almost immediately, she felt at ease. She turned around to face the window and saw nothing but stone and the firelight that illuminated it. She turned back when her eyes had adjusted to the dim light and she took in the room: it was deserted, completely void of any decoration, except for a fireplace and an armchair which Katie recognized from the Gryffindor common room. It sat directly in front of the fireplace, and as soon as Katie noticed this, she had the most insatiable desire to discover who was sitting in the chair, because there certainly was _someone_ in it, casting long shadows against the walls. She tiptoed forward, not wanting to disturb whoever was in the chair. She held her breath, desperately wishing that her hammering heart wouldn't give her away, and then..._

Katie jerked awake. Although the curtains were drawn around her bed, she could tell from the dense darkness that it was still deep in the night. She sat up, still shaken from the dream, and ran her fingers through her hair a few times, trying to calm down; beads of sweat saturated several strands. Noiselessly, she pulled the curtains back, planning to head to the bathroom to wash her face and her dream away, when she jumped: someone was sitting in a chair, not five feet from her bed. As heedful as she had been in her dream, she slowly approached the person in the chair. Before she was within arms' reach, her eyes adapted to the lack of light, again like in her dream, and she realized there was no one actually in the chair - just her mind playing tricks in the early morning. Unable to remember her nightmare and at ease knowing she was alone - aside from the other four sleeping girls - Katie drifted back to her bed, climbed in, pulled the curtains shut, and fell back asleep before her head hit the pillow.

By the end of the first class on Monday, there wasn't a single student in the school who didn't know the legend of the Chamber of Secrets. And all though the initial shock had worn off, one could not walk in a single crowded corridor without hearing even a mention of the Halloween incident.

"It's a shame the cat didn't die," Fred mused one afternoon at lunch when Alicia had just explained to everyone that Professor Sprout had a batch of Mandrakes and would be able to cure the Petrified Mrs. Norris. "Honestly, maybe if she had, Filch would've offed himself too."

Angelina thumped him upside the head.

"I'm only joking!" Fred defended himself.

"Yes, yes, we all know how fond you are of Filch, Fred," George teased.

Katie was on George's right. On the other side of the table, as far as possible from her in the group, Oliver sat to Alicia's right, throwing glances down at Katie which she tried her best to ignore.

She knew it was immature and spineless of her, but Katie had been avoiding Oliver as much as possible since the night of the attack. It wasn't that she was particularly scared of him or nervous, but she sincerely just didn't know how to respond to the feelings he had expressed that night. As it happens, Katie had thought of Oliver in much the same way, but only very recently and only barely. In truth, she would've gladly accepted Oliver and poured her heart out to him (disregarding the fact that there wasn't much to pour out yet), but Katie knew better than to be so impulsive. Besides, she wasn't interested in the concept of dating, especially dating someone who happened to be her Quidditch captain, _and_ she was busy worrying about whatever the Chamber of Secrets held within. So she gave Oliver a wide berth, knowing full well that if she didn't, she'd probably rashly confess her not-so-undying love for him. And Oliver didn't question her...until the final practice before the Gryffindor versus Slytherin Quidditch match.

"Katie..." he said after the locker rooms had almost emptied. George and Angelina lingered and were chatting by the door.

Katie stayed at her locker, pretending to be searching for something, and pretending she hadn't heard Oliver. To her dismay, he repeated her name and walked up to her then waited.

_Damn his determination_, she thought.

"You'll have to talk to me sometime," he said with an air of superiority as he leaned against the lockers. Katie slammed hers shut and resorted to the only thing she could think of.

"Oh really? What makes you think so?" she lashed out angrily. Over Oliver's shoulder and out of the corner of her eye, she saw George and Angelina peering at her, exchange nervous looks, and quickly leave.

"Because you like me too," he said audaciously.

Katie's mouth fell open and before she knew it, she was in full-attack mode.

"You don't know anything, you brainless git!" she shouted.

Oliver's eyes went wide; he looked like he'd just been hit by a Bludger.

"Oh, so that's it? That's the only line you have? I'd have thought you'd have a whole speech planned out by now, Captain!" Katie jeered.

"And what if I do?" Oliver said quietly.

"Go ahead, I would absolutely _love_ to hear it," Katie said sourly as she folded her arms and sat down on the bench.

"I haven't stopped thinking about you," he began. Katie glared up at him with a raised brow. "Okay, maybe I have. But quite often, I've found myself thinking about what could happen. And you know probably more than anyone that I usually don't think about anything but Quidditch." He waited for her to say something but she didn't, so he continued. "You already know what I think and how I feel, so I'm not going to repeat that for you. I'd like to at least leave this locker room with my dignity. I want answers from _you_."

"Fine," was all Katie said, but she said it quietly, resignedly. She knew what was coming.

"Why don't you like me?" he asked as he sat down next to her.

"I thought you said I did like you?" Katie questioned sharply.

"No, I just wanted to get you to speak to me. I knew it'd get you angry and then you'd talk. I know how your mind works, Bell."

Fighting her best to avoid throwing a comeback at him, Katie sighed and then answered, "It's not that I don't like you, Wood. It's just that...I don't think I'm ready."

"How so?"

"Well, first on the very long list: I've never had a boyfriend."

"I don't see that as a problem. I'd be honored to do the job," he said with a smirk.

"Oh, shut it," she hit him playfully in the arm. "Second, Quidditch. I need to focus."

"You think I don't understand that?" Oliver asked. "You do know who you're talking to, don't you? I thought you were smarter than that, Katie."

"I have a harder time focusing than you do, Woo-Oliver. You just step outside the castle and your game-face is on. I'm easily distracted."

"Oh, I'd say I can be pretty easily distracted myself," Oliver said as he reached up and twisted a lock of Katie's hair around his index finger.

"I...I...that's not helping," Katie sputtered.

"See! You do like me," Oliver uttered with a smile as his hand dropped back to his lap.

"I never said that. I just said you were distracting me," Katie feebly lied.

"Look, Katie. You think I'm so focused, but I can promise you that if you don't give me a straight answer now, I'll never be able to keep my concentration during the game tomorrow."

Katie gulped.

"So, I'll ask you one more time: Do you like me back Katie Bell?"

Katie opened her mouth, unsure of what to actually say. Her mouth ran dry as she struggled to make up her mind, debating over her rational and irrational feelings.

"I..."

Oliver's eyes brightened at the sound. The warmth that exuded from them shot through Katie like a lightning strike and suddenly, she was taken back to the dare on Halloween, before she was aware of his feelings, of the terrors within the school. She could only think of what it felt like to kiss him and have him _want_ to kiss her back.

"Yes," she finally said.

Oliver smiled, blindingly, and Katie couldn't help but do the same. However, somewhere in the back of her mind, she wondered if she was making a horrible mistake.

Katie and Oliver had decided to keep their newfound feelings for each other a secret from everyone else until the end of the Quidditch game. Katie knew Alicia wouldn't ever leave her alone and both Oliver and Katie knew the twins would be ten times worse than usual. It was best to avoid being the target of the twins jokes until _after_ the rival Quidditch match was over. So, as a last resort, Oliver made sure Katie sat by him at every meal and whenever someone else sat next to him instead, he insisted he or she switch with Katie, as he "desperately needed to give her some pointers on scoring." And, because he was Oliver Wood, no one questioned him or thought anything of it. Not even the ever-intuitive Alicia Spinnet.

Game day arrived and the nerves from the Gryffindors were nearly tangible. By now, the Slytherin team's new brooms were just as widely known and infamous as the attack on Mrs. Norris. At breakfast, the entire Gryffindor team huddled together at the far end of the table, which was still empty due to the early hour. One by one they had arrived, Harry being the last as usual, and so tense were they, no "good mornings" or "hellos" were exchanged. All seven just sat in silence, too uptight to enjoy breakfast. Every now and then, Fred or George tried to crack a joke to ease the tension, but even their nerves had gotten the best of them. Once the Great Hall began to grow crowded, Oliver stood up and left for the locker rooms without a word. Angelina went next, still soundlessly. The twins exchanged looks and rose from the table together and hurried after her. Katie, Alicia, and Harry gave up on trying to eat and followed. Once inside the locker rooms, everyone was more at ease. Still, they dressed without a sound, then grouped together for Oliver's usual pep talk.

"Slytherin has better brooms than us. No point denying it. But we've got better _people_ on our brooms. We've trained harder than they have, we've been flying in all weathers-"

"Too true," George murmured to the three girls. "I haven't been properly dry since August." Angelina smacked him on the back of the head, but giggled with the others.

"-and we're going to make them rue the day they let that little bit of slime, Malfoy, buy his way onto their team."

Katie could see that Oliver had completely forgotten about the brooms now. She knew there was no doubt in his mind they would win because in his mind, they _had_ to win. He rounded on Harry.

"It'll be down to you, Harry, to show them that a Seeker has to have something more than a rich father. Get to that Snitch before Malfoy or die trying, Harry, because we've got to win today, we've got to."

"So no pressure, Harry," Fred said with a wink.

With fresh determination running through their veins, the team made their way out onto the pitch and were greeted with deafening roars from all houses but Slytherin. Madam Hooch made Oliver and Flint shake hands, which they of course did with a little more force than was necessary.

"On my whistle," Madam Hooch said, "Three...two...one..." and they were off.

_(BLAH BLAH BLAH QUIDDITCH MATCH BLAH - leaving this in here for laughs. This was the obstacle that postponed the posting of this chapter.)_

Despite their newfound resolution, the Gryffindor team could not compare with the lightning-fast brooms of the Slytherins. Over and over again, Katie would have the Quaffle, clutched firmly in her hands, and then the next moment, a Slytherin was zooming away in possession. The same went for Alicia and Angelina. The sheer hopelessness of his chasers not being to hold on to the Quaffle took its toll on Oliver - the Slytherins had gotten past him and scored five times. It began to rain as Lee Jordan glumly announced, "Slytherin lead, sixty points to zero."

Katie was in possession of the Quaffle, frantically dodging Adrian Pucey and Marcus Flint, who were circling her as she headed down towards the Slytherin end of the pitch. She was almost to the goal posts, ready to shoot, when Harry careened in front of her, a Bludger, and both Fred and George on his tail. The infinitesimal moment of distraction was all it took. The Quaffle was knocked out of her hands by Flint, and before she had time to even register what had happened, Katie saw Flint streaking towards the Gryffindor goal posts. Full of anger at Flint and at herself for being distracted, Katie rushed down the field, ready to get revenge on Flint, when Madam Hooch's whistle blew, signaling a time out. Looking down towards the ground, Katie saw the rest of the Gryffindor team already huddled together. She flew down to join them.

"What's going on?" Oliver asked. "We're being flattened. Fred, George, where were you when that Bludger stopped Angelina scoring?"

"We were twenty feet above her, stopping the other Bludger from murdering Harry, Oliver," replied George rather angrily. "Someone's fixed it - it won't leave Harry alone. It hasn't gone for anyone else all game. The Slytherins must have done something to it."

Katie felt like she was watching a Quidditch game rather than playing in one as her eyes flicked back and forth between Oliver and George.

"But the Bludgers have been locked in Madam Hooch's office since our last practice, and there was nothing wrong with them then...." Wood said full of anxiety.

Katie looked up; Madam Hooch was walking swiftly towards them.

"Listen," Harry said, snapping Katie's attention back to the matter at hand, "with you two flying around me all the time the only way I'm going to catch the Snitch is if it flies up my sleeve. Go back to the rest of the team and let me deal with the rogue one."

"Don't be thick. It'll take your head off," Fred told Harry.

Oliver seemed to be watching the same fictional Quidditch match as Katie as he anxiously glanced back and forth between Harry and the Weasleys.

"Oliver, this is insane!" Alicia snapped. "You can't let Harry deal with that thing on his own. Let's ask for an inquiry-"

"If we stop now, we'll have to forfeit the match!" Harry said exasperatedly. "And we're not losing to Slytherin just because of a crazy Bludger! Come on, Oliver, tell them to leave me alone!"

Oliver wore the same expression as the Petrified Mrs. Norris.

"This is all your fault," George retorted to him. "'Get the Snitch or die trying.' what a stupid thing to tell him-"

"Ready to resume play?" Madam Hooch asked Oliver, who still clearly was undecided, as she joined the group.

The entire team directed their gazes on Harry, then their captain. Oliver took a deep breath.

"All right, Fred, George, you heard Harry - leave him alone and let him deal with the Bludger on his own."

Madam Hooch blew her whistle and the game commenced once more.

Katie tried her best to forget about Harry and his rogue Bludger above as she swooped in and out of Slytherins, praying to get her hands on the Quaffle. The rain grew heaver, as did her hopes, and she found no purchase on the big red ball that remained in Slytherin hands. She flew in desperation, trailing after the Quaffle that she just couldn't reach when the crowd suddenly erupted into cheers. Katie couldn't help but look for what had caused the acclamation, and with simultaneous joy and fear, her gaze locked in on Harry, sprawled in the mud, Snitch in hand, unconscious.

She immediately headed straight for the ground, as did the rest of the Gryffindor team (the Slytherin team had already started sullenly trudging to the locker rooms). They, along with countless Gryffindors from the crowd and several teachers, gathered around Harry and waited for him to wake. Katie glanced across the little circle that had formed to meet Oliver's eyes: although he was upset about Harry's injury, he couldn't help the goofy, victorious grin from spreading across his face. Katie rolled her eyes and smiled a small smile before focusing back on Harry. Minutes later, Harry came around. Professor Lockhart was leaning over him.

Katie couldn't quite make out the exchange between Harry and Lockhart due to the rain and the buzz of the anxious Gryffindors surrounding her, but Harry's unsurprising distaste for Lockhart was very evident on his face.

"Why can't I just go to the hospital wing?" Katie finally heard Harry say over the crowd.

"He should really, Professor," Katie heard Oliver's Scottish accent through the hum of people. "Great capture, Harry, really spectacular, your best yet, I'd say-" She locked eyes with him once more, and yet again, couldn't help but smile at his unperturbed exultation. Of course Oliver Wood wouldn't be the slightest bit phased, no matter how many members of his team were knocked unconscious.

Much to Harry's dismay, Lockhart began whirling his wand extravagantly, totally ignorant of Harry's objections. Everyone stood on their tiptoes to see the damage that Lockhart had surely done. Everyone gasped. A small boy began wildly snapping pictures. Katie peered down at Harry's arm, the source of his pain, and what she saw caused her stomach to lurch. Harry's arm looked like it was made of rubber; the bones were gone.

"Ah, yes. Well, that can sometimes happen. But the point is, the bones are no longer broken..." Lockhart's unsettled voice faded into the distance as Katie's ears started ringing.

It's not that Katie was necessarily squeamish. Well, yes. It was exactly that. But Katie didn't want her strong image tarnished, so she did her best to remain calm as she stared at the rubber-like remains of Harry's arm. Her breaths became shallow, sometimes stopping altogether. Harry then hoisted himself up and accompanied rightfully to the Hospital Wing by Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.

"Breathe, Bell," Katie heard a Scottish accent murmur in her ear. She gasped as she came back to reality. The crowd had mostly dissipated already, and now Oliver stood close beside her. He looked at her knowingly, a hint of amusement on his face.

"What?" She was taken aback.

"You're squeamish," he mused. His brow raised.

"I am not," Katie countered, her breathing returning to normal.

"Oh, please. The look was plain on your face."

"It was?" Katie asked horrified.

"Don't worry, no one saw," he jerked a thumb towards the retreating backs of students. "They all still think you're Little Miss Tough. I, on the other hand, now know you have a weakness." He smirked.

"Weakness, my arse."

"Are you telling me that Harry's arm didn't bother you?" Katie's expression faltered. "That's what I thought," Oliver continued.

"I thought you said no one noticed?"

"Well, I certainly am someone as opposed to no one. I'm Oliver Wood. And Oliver Wood just happens to be quite aware of you."

"You're a creep, Wo-Oliver," Katie accused as she playfully hit him in the arm.

"Takes one to know one, Bell."

(A/N: You don't know how tempting it was to end here, but I wanted the Katie/Oliver interaction to go further, as I'm sure most of you do too.)

They stood there in silence for a moment. It was still raining. Oliver began rocking on his heels.

"So...if I hug you, you're not going to punch me or anything, are you?"

Katie pursed her lips in contemplation. "Why don't you try it and find out?"

Oliver gathered Katie in his arms. Before she knew what was happening, he had already picked her up and spun her around a few times. Now, with no injured Seekers around to show remorse for, he let his jubilation show. Katie held on tightly, not wanting to let go. She had just become aware of exactly how cold the rain was and Oliver was radiating so much heat, she couldn't bear to let go now. So, with her arm around his waist and his arm around hers, they made their way to the locker rooms.

They both dropped their arms as soon as they made it to the door. The entire team, minus the ailing Harry of course, was waiting for their return. They were all still soaked to the bones and covered in mud when Katie and Oliver entered.

"Where have you been?" Alicia immediately probed.

Katie didn't hesitate in the slightest to answer, "Oliver waited until everyone was gone to properly freak out about the win. I unfortunately happened to be standing too close and got the full blast of it."

"Poor girl," Fred hummed to George.

"We should really go see Harry and make sure he's all right," Angelina suggested, leaning away from the lockers and bustling out the door.

"Spanking good idea, Ange," George said as he and Fred followed.

"Yeah, good idea," Alicia murmured conspiratorially as she narrowed her eyes at Oliver and Katie as she passed them on her way out.

They exchanged a nervous glance. Katie laughed when she noticed Oliver's expression was a mirror image of hers. He laughed too, and together they headed out the door and to the Hospital Wing.

"This boy needs rest, he's got thirty-three bones to regrow! Out! OUT!" Madam Pomfrey screeched just as the twins began popping open bottles of butterbeer and passing cakes around to the team surrounding Harry's bed. Defeatedly, the sweets were gathered up and the party came to a premature end. Harry groaned as Katie and the others turned to wave goodbye as they headed out the door. Oliver slowed his paces to match Katie's and they hung back behind the group.

"They're going back up to the common room," Oliver whispered. "How about we go somewhere more private?"

Katie's breath caught in her throat. "Um...can I shower first?"

"Of course. Meet me outside the locker rooms in an hour?"

"Sounds good to me," Katie said with a smile. And then together, they both hurried back out into the rain, down to the locker rooms, where warm, clean, dry clothes awaited them.

_(A/N: "HE JUST WANTS TO PUT HIS BASILISK IN YOUR CHAMBER OF SECRETS." You can look forward to a twin uttering this little remark once everyone knows the deal about the Chamber of Secrets. And you know what that means: SEQUEL!! Hope you liked it _:) _Review if you'd like.)_


	7. Fabrication

_I'm back, my loyal readers! You have NO IDEA how much I decided to revamp this story. Seriously. I decided I wasn't happy with quite a bit of it. So, this chapter begins the revamping. As you might've already noticed, I'm going to try out first person point-of-view. I think this story needs to actually be in Katie's head. The plot lines and such will all make more sense and you'll also get more of a sense of who Katie really is. Please let me know in the reviews if you prefer it this way or the old third person point-of-view version. My wish is your command _:)_ Aside from the point-of-view, I also made quite a few significant changes to the story line. Don't hate me! And for now, that's it, so read on!_

CHAPTER 7 - FABRICATION

The rain had quieted down to a drizzle as Oliver and I walked back to the locker rooms. He recounted Harry's heroic capture of the Snitch, which did not surprise me, though I was sure he had hammed it up a bit. I didn't mind. I actually found myself completely immersed in what he was saying, especially since I hadn't seen the winning capture myself. His eyes alight with the thrill of victory, he reenacted Harry getting hit by the Bludger and then waved his arms about in order to portray how the Snitch had been right by Malfoy's head and he'd still had no idea.

"I told you! That git had _nothing_ on Harry! Nothing! I mean, did you _see_ that dive? How he didn't even _flinch_ until he got the Snitch? _I can't believe it!_" He continued like that all the way back down to the pitch, even when we had parted ways and headed for the showers.

I stripped off the mud-crusted scarlet robes and set them outside the shower. Again, without Oliver nearby, the cold of November swept me up in its arms, sending shivers down my spine. I hurriedly switched the water on as hot as it would go, impatient to thaw myself out. With the water running at full speed and several walls between us, I could no longer hear Oliver, though I was certain he hadn't stopped talking. That boy never shut up about Quidditch, especially after a winning game.

I smiled to myself as I began to wet my already thoroughly dampened hair, thinking of Oliver's obvious, hard-to-ignore exhilaration; it was infectious. Though I wasn't quite as obsessed as he was, I couldn't deny that I felt the exact same euphoria at the moment. Just thinking that we were _one step closer_ to the Quidditch Cup sent my heart a flutter. As I stood there under the burning jet of water, thinking quietly to myself, I realized this was the first time I'd had to reflect the past few days. So much had happened. Practice, practice, practice, of course. And then the win! But...

Oliver's words from the other night leaked into my brain, oozed through every mental pathway until all the feelings of triumph had been acidified. The Chamber of Secrets mystery hadn't been solved. No progress had been made. Everyone, teachers and students alike, still remained in the dark when it came to what was going to happen next and how it was going to happen. I was used to Hogwarts being an unpredictable place, but there was never any doubt in my mind about its safety. Oliver had said a person had shouted "You'll be next, Mudbloods!" I had no idea what to make of that. And that scared me, much more than I liked to admit.

Then there was Oliver himself. Gosh, this all just happened so fast...

One day, everything is normal, no different from last year. Then he punches me, and is all nice to gain my forgiveness. Suddenly we're a couple? No...not a couple. Just... I had no idea what to even think. In less than a second, I realized that by trying to avoid making rash decisions, I had made the biggest impulsive mistake ever. Hadn't I told myself this before? Not wise, Katie, not wise.

I mean, sure, Oliver was a great guy. An obsessed idiot, but still a great guy. But what was I thinking? One night of sappy confessions and suddenly I've just given myself to him, putty in his hands? Didn't I hate girls like that? Didn't I despise them with every core of my being? I'd been fine on my own at Hogwarts for years, and now suddenly, one measly boy puts it all to pieces?

Merlin, I didn't even know the boy! Who's to say he wasn't some secret supporter of You-Know-Who? Or some murderous, raving lunatic? (Not that I didn't already get those impressions during practice.) This whole situation just had MESS written all over it.

Stupid, Bell, stupid.

Then I realized I had been standing stock-still in the shower, all the suds in my hair forgotten.

I leaned under the shower head and began rinsing as I made up my mind as to what I was going to do about Oliver.

We both walked out of the showers at the same moment, Oliver with a towel loosely around his waist and I with one wrapped around my body. He smiled politely and went behind the row of lockers where I was headed. I knew he was too courteous to walk in on me changing, and I didn't care anyways. I was too wrapped up in my thoughts to notice anything as I dressed. Once he was sure I was fully-clothed, he came around the partition and sat down on the bench behind me. I stared at my closed locker. He grabbed my hand where it hung limply at my side and began playing with my fingers.

"Katie?" I looked down at him then. He smiled. I didn't know what to say. He pulled me down to sit in front of him and he looked into my eyes, his own eyes full of sincerity.

"Katie," his eyes shot down towards our hands where he continued to mesh his fingers with mine. "I was wondering...I was wondering if-"

"Wait. Oliver, I have to tell you something."

His eyes flashed up to me then, full of eagerness, but when he saw my expression, his face fell. Not breaking eye contact, he moved his hand to my face and cupped my cheek.

"Katie, what is it? Is it...are you worried about the Chamber of Secrets?"

I choked slightly. Yes, that certainly was something to be worried about, but it didn't bother me now. I shook my head.

"Harry? Madam Pomfrey said it's all going to be fine. You d-" I shook my head again and shifted my eyes downward.

"I..I lied Oliver. I don't like you. I...never have. I guess I just...got carried away with that kiss. You know...desperate." I couldn't bare to see his face.

"No, Katie, I don't know," he said sharply as he dropped his hand. I could almost feel the way his body stiffened.

"Oliver, please, let me explain." Not that I knew what else to say. I was a terrible liar as it stood.

"I think you've made your point clear." He stood up from the bench and turned to leave.

"No, Oliver, don't do this. I'm sorry!" I called after his retreating figure.

"Yeah. Right." And then he walked out the door.

I didn't cry. Wasn't this what I wanted? Space? Time to think? I didn't know what to do, so I just sat on the bench with my knees to my chest, and thought to myself as the rain picked up in speed.

About an hour and a half later, when I was sure the rain had stopped, I dragged myself up to Gryffindor Tower where I knew my warm bed would be waiting for me. It was only six o'clock in the evening, the sun had just begun to set, but I knew the only way I would be able to escape my thoughts and guilt would be in sleep. I climbed through the portrait hole to the raucous common room. The Weasleys were in the corner, testing a few potions on themselves: Fred was covered in fur as he and George waved to me across the room. I smiled halfheartedly and began to head in their direction, sure they'd be able to distract me, when I noticed Oliver was sitting in a chair by them, anger on every inch of his face. He didn't see me as I scrutinized his expression, but George did. He looked pointedly at Oliver, then back at me, shrugged and mouthed "But we won?" I headed straight for the spiral staircase. As I neared the door to the fourth year girls' dormitory, I could hear giggles echoing within.

"I swear, if you don't confront Fred tonight, I'll never talk to you again," Alicia jeered.

"Is that a promise?" Angelina asked before laughing again. I opened the door.

"Hey, Bell! Isn't Angelina just blooming when she's in love?" Alicia called. Angelina elbowed her in the ribs.

I looked down at them, where they were sitting cross-legged beside the furnace and muttered, "Yeah, she is." Angelina blushed. Then I went over to my bed and just collapsed on top of it.

"Katie, what's..." Angelina began, but she trailed off. I didn't acknowledge her.

A few silent seconds passed and then Alicia began mocking Angelina again. I sat where I was on my bed and just listened to their bickering.

"I don't see why you're so self-conscious about it. I mean, you _have_ to see the way he looks at you."

"No, because if I look at him, he's going to see right through me. I'll probably end up drooling or something anyway. So I avoid eye contact. Safely."

"You want my advice?"

"Not really." Alicia hit Angelina with a pillow. "Kidding, kidding!" Angelina defended herself.

"Well, flirt with him a little. It can't hurt. He's a Weasley. He's too thick to understand what you're thinking as long as you don't show it," Alicia gushed. "If he likes you back, _which I know he does_, then you'll get a reaction out of him. If he doesn't, _ which he does_, then he's too stupid to know you came on to him anyways. It's a win win situation! You just gotta throw him a little bait." She winked.

"But I don't know how to flirt. I'm not like you."

"Honey, we can't all look this good." Alicia slid her arms down her body suggestively. Angelina raised her eyebrows and then both girls erupted into fits of giggles.

"So what do I do?"

"Just tease him a little, make him want you more. Find excuses to touch him, but then leave him hanging. Whisper in his ear if you ever get the chance. It'll drive him wild."

"But what if I chicken out?"

"Girl, I'll be right there beside you, dragging your arse over to him."

"Thank you for caring so much about my dignity," Angelina said as she rolled her eyes.

"It's what best friends are for," Alicia shrugged before Angelina mulled her with a hug and they chuckled again.

I'd sat in silence long enough. Maybe they could help. I had never really talked to either of them about anything deep, just small talk and Quidditch. But we were inseparable, the perfect team on the field. Why couldn't the same be true off the pitch?

"Umm...Alicia? Angelina?" They immediately stifled their playful laughter and focused their attention on me. "Mind if I join in on the conversation?"

"Not at all!" Alicia said, patting the spot on the floor next to her. "What's up?"

I got up, wrapped myself in my scarlet duvet, and plopped down on Alicia's right. "I kind of am in a...predicament."

"Okay, spill!" Alicia was dripping with avidity. Angelina just looked at me concerned.

I didn't know if I could make myself speak. I'd have to tell them everything.

"It's...it's about Oliver," I mumbled.

"I knew it! I _knew_ it!" Alicia spurted. Angelina stayed calm. She had seen my expression and knew this wasn't going to be a good story.

"Go on, Katie," Angelina reassured. "You can trust us."

I took a deep breath and started from the beginning.

"We're so sorry about what Malfoy said," Alicia commented once I had finished.

"Really. If we had known, we would've done something. I swear. He would've been hopping around this castle on one leg by now," Angelina added.

"It's alright, guys. You didn't know." I laughed bitterly, remembering when I had said the same words to Oliver.

"So you and Oliver, eh?" Alicia murmured, more to herself than us.

"Not anymore," I sighed.

"But you said that's what you wanted," Angelina cooed as she rubbed my back comfortingly.

"Merlin, I don't know what I want. That's why I stopped things. I didn't want to get too involved. It would only be harder if I was still confused later on."

"Well, you want my advice?" Alicia offered to me, just like she had Angelina. I looked up at her.

"Give it time," she continued. "Just go about your life like normal. Treat him like a friend."

"But life isn't normal anymore. And I don't think he wants to even speak to me, let alone be friends." My shoulders slumped and I put my head in my hands.

"Just let things play out. If something is meant to happen, it'll happen. If it's not meant to be, then it's no big loss." I nodded.

"And besides, don't let this bring you down anyways," Angelina threw in. "There are more important things to be worried about."

"I know," I said as I shivered involuntarily.

"Are you scared?" Angelina whispered. I knew what she was referring to.

"Does it show?" I scoffed.

"Just a little," she said with a small smile.

"Well, we're always here if you ever need to talk, Katie," Alicia said.

"Thanks guys," I said, more relieved than I would've thought possible.

"Come on, let's go downstairs," Alicia stood up and grabbed my hand and Angelina's. "Angelina has some 'splaining to do to a certain red-haired boy."

"You mean Percy?" I offered, smiling weakly. "I always knew she was attracted to him."

Angelina rolled her eyes for the millionth time that night. Alicia dragged us both out the door and down the stairs and I thanked Merlin for finally having someone to confide in. Maybe things weren't so bad after all.

_Like I said before, please don't hate me. I just have other plans for this now. And you'll like them, I promise! Review if it tickles your fancy! _


	8. Harsh Blows

_This chapter wasn't meant to be this long. Oliver and Katie took on minds of their own haha. But hey! I suppose that's a good thing in writing, is it not? On another note, thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far. I have a Blackberry Curve and whenever I get an email that someone's reviewed, a little red light blinks to notify me. I can't tell you how excited I get haha. You guys are fabulous :) Anyways, here's a chapter that's sure to get you rather...er...pissed off. Sorry!_

CHAPTER 8 - HARSH BLOWS

Though it must've been past midnight, the common room was still bustling with Gryffindors from every year when Alicia had dragged Angelina and me down the staircase. With a mischievous grin and a glance at Angelina, she let go of our hands and beckoned us to follow her towards the twins, who had not moved from their earlier spot in the corner. I gulped, hoping that Oliver had gone to bed so I wouldn't have to see his betrayed face, but sure enough, Oliver was still awake, sitting in the same chair as before. As much as it bothered me, I couldn't help looking at his face. The twins were being their usual selves, loud and obnoxious as they took turns casting spells on each other that would result in one twin being covered in blue boils and the other in purple, but Oliver didn't even look at them; he just stared straight ahead, his chin resting in his hands, his brow furrowed. I gulped again as we got closer.

"Hey, guys!" Alicia announced confidently as she plopped down on the floor by Oliver's feet. Angelina and I stayed rooted in our spots, not sure of where to sit.

"Why, hello, ladies," Fred said with a smile. Though he looked away from George, he still cast the spell. The boils turned pink with green polka-dots.

"Fred!" George yelped. Fred looked at his twin in alarm. For a moment, there was silence between them, then...

"Excellent," they said in unison.

"What are you doing?" Alicia asked.

"Testing out some new spells, obviously," George answered.

"Why?"

"Ginny's been rather down. We figured, who better to cheer her up than us?" Fred said innocently. Yeah, right. Those two? Innocent. If I hadn't felt so awkward because of Oliver, I would've laughed.

"You're going to give the poor girl a heart attack," Alicia scolded. The twins just laughed. Alicia looked up at Angelina, raised her eyebrows, and jerked her head towards Fred and the empty seat next to him. Angelina's eyes widened. "Go," Alicia mouthed. Angelina nodded once and then perched herself next to Fred with about a wand's length between them. I made a move to take the available seat, anxious to get out of Oliver's line of view, but Alicia raised her eyebrows once more at Angelina, who gulped, and scooted next to Fred, sealing the gap between them.

Fred stiffened and looked to his right.

"Hey, Ange," he said rather unsettled. Angelina glanced nervously at Alicia, who inclined her head.

"Fred," Angelina returned with a brilliant smile, all nerves seemingly forgotten (or well masked, I assume). I could've sworn I saw Fred's jaw drop just the tiniest fraction. I giggled, then realized I was still standing without a seat. I looked around apprehensively for any free spot to sit, but found none except for the spot on the floor by Angelina's feet. Directly across from Oliver. I sighed and sat down.

"So how long do you think Pomfrey will keep Harry?" Alicia asked no one in particular. The twins looked at each other.

"Could be days," George suggested.

"Weeks," Fred amended.

"Months."

"Rest of the Quidditch season..." Fred trailed off and leaned past his twin to look at Oliver. "Wood, shouldn't you be having a fit or something right now?" Oliver's eyes flashed up in a glare towards the redhead.

Fred leaned back in, sensing Oliver wasn't about to answer. George shrugged. "Guess he already is."

"Honestly, I think he'll be out by tomorrow," Angelina said. "I had to regrow a few bones in my foot from that Bludger in second year, remember, Alicia?" Alicia nodded with her eyes on Fred (whose eyes were on Angelina's lips). "It only took me a few hours to heal completely. I think I remember Madam Pomfrey saying that it should never take more than a day." She glanced at Fred and tensed the slightest bit. Fred coughed and looked away. Alicia smiled smugly.

George was oblivious to the whole thing. "See! Look, Wood. You'll have your seeker back by tomorrow and then you can work him to death in practice. No need to be so grumpy." Oliver glared again.

"What's wrong, Oliver?" Fred asked with the first hint of seriousness all day.

Oliver stared at the ground as he answered, "nothing."

"Oh, really? Because to me, it seems like something is definitely wrong. Did Flint steal the pitch away from you again?" Fred's lip jutted out in a mock pout, all seriousness gone already.

"It's not Flint," Oliver growled.

Against my better knowledge, I up looked at him. For the slightest second, his eyes connected with mine, full of revulsion. But he shifted his glare back to the floor before anyone could notice.

"What's the matter then?" George asked. Of course, Oliver didn't answer. The twins looked at each other and shrugged again and returned to charming each other with various colored boils. Fixing my gaze on Angelina and Fred (just like Alicia who was watching their every move), I noticed that Angelina kept scooting closer to Fred. Fred's smile, though focused half the time on his twin, kept growing wider.

Things continued like that for about a half hour. The room had pretty much emptied except for some sixth and seventh years and Hermione Granger, who was all in alone in a corner, reading an enormous book; I wasn't surprised.

I was just about to go to bed, too tired to ignore Oliver's anger much longer, when the portrait hole swung open.

A small boy entered, obviously a first year, and he was shaking. He froze on the spot and said nothing. Everyone turned their eyes toward him.

"Colin Creevey's been Petrified," he declared.

I was surprised my mind reacted so fast since I didn't really know the him, but immediately, the small mousy boy with a camera practically attached to his face popped into my head. I stopped breathing.

I heard Hermione squeak. I looked over and she was reading with more fervor now. Everyone else just stared at the boy, who still hadn't moved. No one said anything.

After about five minutes of silence, the room erupted into anxious whispers.

"How do you think it happened?"

"Where?"

"Who's Colin Creevey?"

"_Why?"_

I turned my attention back to the group. There was a knot in my throat. I listened to their fretful whispers in terror. I noticed Angelina looked close to tears as she did the same.

Though I listened, I comprehended none of what the twins or Alicia were saying. I wasn't sure what my expression looked like. A small part of me hoped it wasn't _too _panic-stricken, too scared to show that I was a Muggle-born too. Just like... Colin. Immediately, I remembered overhearing Harry telling Ron Weasley about Colin Creevey and his obsession with Harry. Some of this obsession was due to the fact that he was a Muggle-born.

_I was a Muggle-born._

I choked.

"Katie? Are you okay?" George's voice pulled me out of my horror.

_Crap. _The twins didn't know about my parentage yet. And the last place I wanted them to find out was a moderately crowded room of on edge people. I straightened my expression as best as I could.

"As fine as I can be what with Muggle-borns being Petrified left and right," I attempted.

George nodded and turned back to his twin and the discussion. Though it was irrational, I still had enough concentration in me to notice Fred's arm on Angelina's shoulder, massaging her comfortingly. Maybe I was just trying to stay blissfully ignorant of the situation. Either way, it wasn't working.

I looked at the floor, completely horrified.

_What if I was next?_

I glanced back up, straight ahead, and saw Oliver staring at me. The anger had left his face. In fact, he was expressionless, but his face was white. Pale as bone.

* * *

No one knew how the small boy had found out about Colin (he was too shaken to explain), but by Monday morning, the entire school knew of the attack. Weeks passed, and still, nearly every class was interrupted by someone asking a question about the Chamber of Secrets, but all the answers were the same. None of the professors knew what to do or how to respond, so instead, they just did their best to keep everyone calm. Not that it worked.

People rarely traveled by themselves anymore. Everyone was in pairs or groups, whether it be on their way to a meal, to the grounds, or even to the bathroom. The first years were especially flustered. All of them seemed to think that since Colin was attacked, they were marked to be the next victim of certain doom. If the situation hadn't been so serious, I would've found it pretty funny. But I was still worrying about myself. I couldn't help it.

The very night I had heard of Colin's attack, I dreamt that I was walking through the corridors of Hogwarts alone. Just walking, but nervously. And then, a statue was in my way, right in the middle of the hall. Then, I'd realized it wasn't a statue at all, but a sculpture of myself, my face frozen in terror. Then I woke up in a cold sweat. This had happened every night since then. You would've thought the effect would've worn off by now, but it hadn't.

The only thing that kept me calm was Quidditch practice. At least my mind couldn't wander when I was on the pitch.

It was the first day of December, cloudy, but surprisingly warm for Scotland. Er...well, at least it wasn't freezing. Wood had made us do the usual seven laps around the pitch (on foot), then seven in the air, and now we were just tossing the Quaffle back and forth in pairs while he oversaw us.

"C'mon, Weasley!" he yelled.

"Of the Fred variety?" George asked him across from me.

"Yes," Oliver said, "Fred, you should have better aim than that. You play with smaller balls!"

Though I was more than fifty feet away, I heard Fred giggle at Oliver's words.

"Johnson, focus. You've been doing spectacular work lately. Don't get distracted now." Angelina nodded determinedly, but missed another of Fred's tosses.

"Stop throwing with so much force, Spinnet. I don't want Potter in the Hospital Wing again."

"Sorry," Alicia answered. "Guess I'm just excited."

"For what? Oh, nevermind, just concentrate."

I looked over at her, wondering what she was excited about, then I saw Angelina and Fred both blushing. Alicia smiled wider.

_CRUNCH._

_"_Eurgh!" I shouted as my hands flew up to cradle my jaw where the Quaffle had made contact.

"Merlin's beard! Katie, I'm so sorry!" George cried as he flew over to me. He peered down to look at my face. "You're bleeding. Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!"

"It's fine, it's fine, George," I said as I began wiping the blood with my sleeve. "I should've been paying attention. Don't worry. I can take care of it."

"Problem, Bell?" Oliver asked in a flat voice.

"I...I got hit in the face. Can I go clean up quickly? I won't even go to Pomfrey or anything yet." I kept my face hidden behind my sleeve.

"And how did you get hit in the face?" Still careless.

"I...just did." Great excuse, Bell. He'll really buy that one.

"Obviously you weren't paying attention. I'll take over with George. You're going to give me twenty laps on the ground. Maybe that'll teach you a little focus." He fetched the Quaffle from where I'd dropped it on the ground and flew so that his back was to me. He didn't even look at me.

"You can't be serious, Wood. I'm not running anywhere until I get this blood off my face."

"Fine, then go get the blood off your face and run back to Gryffindor Tower. Consider yourself off the team."

"WHAT!? That's ridiculous! I missed _one_ fucking shot! Why the bloody hell should I be kicked off the team for that!?"

He turned to face me then, rage etched on every inch of his face.

"Bell, we won't win anything if we don't work as a team," he growled. "And a team is only as strong as its weakest player."

He did _not_ just call me weak.

"Fuck you, Oliver Wood. I'm resigning."

"What for!?" His eyes bulged out of their sockets.

Did he seriously just ask that? This boy was mental.

"You just said I was _weak! _And _you_ brought up the idea of me getting kicked off anyway! You're such a prick!"

Without waiting for anyone's reaction, I shot towards the ground and ran to the locker rooms, thinking of nothing but how many different ways I could injure my _dear captain_ with a Bludger.

* * *

It must've been at least an hour that I spent pacing back and forth in the locker rooms. I didn't know what else to do that wouldn't get me in any more trouble. I wasn't sure if I had officially resigned from the team or not, but I didn't want to think about it now. I would just get angrier. And probably end up punching a locker or something. I didn't need a dislocated jaw _and_ a broken hand. I groaned to myself.

I don't know what it was I ever saw in that idiot. He was completely repulsive. Thank Merlin I had ended things before I got really tangled up with that prat of a captain, Oliver Wood. And to think I had felt _sorry_ for what I did to him! _He _was the one who deserved a Quaffle to the face. But, as much as I loved thinking cruel thoughts about _him_, it definitely didn't help my anger, so I reverted back to my pacing.

"Don't you _dare_ go near her!" I heard Alicia's voice yell from the other side of the door.

"But-"

"No. Wood, stay here," a Weasley said.

"But-"

"WOOD!"

Then the door creaked open.

"Katie?" the voice of a twin echoed into the room. I knew if I answered it would be unfriendly, so I held my tongue. In a few seconds, George (I think) turned the corner.

"Katie, you're not getting kicked off the team," he said as he sat down on the bench. He motioned for me to sit next to him. I obeyed and peered into his face.

"It's George," he said, raising his eyebrows. "You're not getting kicked off the team," he repeated.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure I am."

"None of us want you to leave, so unless _you_ really want to give up your position, _which I know you don't_, you're still part of the team."

"I can think of someone who wants me gone," I whispered as I looked down at my lap. As I said it, a pang shot through my heart. Oliver _hated _ me. He had to. I could be snatched up by Slytherin's monster tonight and he wouldn't care one bit. And as upset as I was with him, I knew _I_ didn't hate him. Oliver was still my friend. A blubbering idiot yes, but so was I. And I had hurt him first. It was only fair for him to react this way. My throat grew thick and tears began to form in my eyes. George put a finger under my chin and forced me to look at him.

"Katie, Oliver doesn't hate you," he whispered as if he'd read my mind. "He's just...well, he's just an idiot. You know that."

I heaved a small sob as I looked into George's eyes. I could tell he was telling the truth instead of just telling me the words I wanted to hear. He pulled me into his arms and held me for a moment before pulling back to see my face.

"Look, Katie. Oliver knows he overreacted. He's sorry. But we didn't want him to confront you yet because he's still upset with you. But _he doesn't hate you."_

"If he doesn't hate me then why did we want me off the team?" I sniffled.

"I already told you, he doesn't. He was just so angry that he said things he didn't mean. You should know by now that Wood doesn't think like everyone else does."

"Because he's heartless."

"Sometimes," George said with a small smile. "But regardless, he said he only did it because he cares."

That caught me off guard.

"What?"

"Well, once we got him to calm down and realize what he'd done, he explained it to us. At one point, he said he was just worried about you. He didn't say why. I, personally, know you can take perfect care of yourself."

"Thanks, George. Glad to know someone doesn't think I'm _weak_." I cringed at the word.

"He didn't mean that either. I don't think..." he trailed off, but then dismissively shook his head. "Come on, Katie. Practice is almost over. Wood promised to be nice. But he's not going to talk to you just yet. Give it time."

I nodded somberly and hugged George again before getting up and putting on a brave face.

"Let's go play some Quidditch," I said in the steadiest voice I could manage. George got up, linked arms with me, and led me back out to the pitch.

Just as George had said he would, Oliver avoided me for the rest of practice. We played a bit of three-on-three while Harry was sent to search for the Snitch on his own over and over again. My team consisted of me, George, and Angelina with George as keeper and the other team was made up of Alicia, Fred, and Oliver, of course, as keeper. At one point, my jaw throbbed especially hard and caused me to completely miss the goal. Oliver looked at me with concerned eyes but said nothing more. Thank Merlin for that. Other than that small mishap, I worked myself as hard as I could, in a desperate attempt to prove to Oliver Wood that I was not _weak_.

_I hate to seem desperate, but it would be pretty cool if you reviewed because I'm kind of getting in a rut with the next few chapters. I know what I want to happen, but I'm not sure how to make it happen. Do your best to motivate me! _


	9. Snape's Request

_This was actually all supposed to be part of the last chapter, but like I said, Oliver and Katie had other plans. I'm definitely dedicating this chapter to the following people: luverofjamesandlily, Storm-and-Faith, michellenessa, and xc1016. All of your unexpectedly lengthy reviews made my day today and inspired me to finish this chapter, so this one's for you :)_

CHAPTER 9 - SNAPE'S REQUEST

Once practice was over, we team went our separate ways: Alicia and Angelina ran off towards the dormitories to properly freshen up before dinner, Harry immediately sought out - you guessed it - Ron and Hermione, and the twins hung back with Oliver. That left me. It was either stay with them or wander off by myself. Still feeling particularly destructive from earlier, I chose the former option. George quickened his pace and linked arms with me once more and began towing me forward while Fred stayed next to Oliver. After a quick visit to the Hospital Wing to get my jaw realigned (Oliver still hadn't said anything. He only grimaced because _his chaser_ was injured), the four of us wandered the castle, heading nowhere in particular.

"Would you like to go to dinner, fair maiden?" George said once he had my arm in his again.

I giggled. "Of course! Thank you, kind sir."

"My pleasure, m'lady," he responded with a bow of his head.

"Honestly, George." My tone turned sincere. "Thanks for talking to me back there. As much as I would've liked to have had a dramatic exit, I know I would've regretted quitting the team."

"Oh, no need to thank me. I was just doing the best for a best friend."

"Really? You mean that?"

He looked at me puzzled. "...Why wouldn't I mean that?"

"I just..." I looked down to avoid his eyes. "I didn't know you thought of me that way."

"Katie, in case you haven't noticed, our team is like a family. You might as well be the eighth Weasley child." He smiled and then grabbed a lock of my hair. "Of course, we'd have to dye your hair."

"I think I could live with that," I allowed.

I could hear Fred and Oliver quietly talking behind us (yes, a quiet Fred. I was just as shocked as you), though I couldn't make out what they were saying. I figured it was probably better that way. Evidently they had decided to head for dinner as well. The four of us headed for the Great Hall together, when we noticed a clump of students in the entrance hall.

"What's that?" Fred asked loudly.

"No idea," George answered as he pulled me towards to crowd.

As we got closer, we realized the students were actually grouped around the notice board.

"Brilliant!" George exclaimed when his tall frame saw the piece of parchment first. "There's going to be a Dueling Club and the first meeting is tonight!"

"I'm in of course," Fred said as he arrived next to me.

"I might as well," Oliver agreed.

"Me too," I said, deciding that I couldn't miss another chance to prove to Oliver just how strong I was. Besides, my best class was Defense Against the Dark Arts. That had to count for something.

We ate dinner briskly, Alicia and Angelina joining us about half way through the meal. I couldn't help but notice that Angelina was wearing more makeup than usual. It was unnecessary; she was gorgeous just au naturel. I assumed this was Alicia's doing. Leave it to her to gaudy things up. At least it was with the best intentions. And that's not to say the makeup wasn't effective - Fred's eyes didn't leave Angelina's face for more than ten seconds at a time.

Stomachs satiated and appetites appeased, we headed back up to the common room to kill time before the Dueling Club meeting. I took out a potions essay (potions was the bane of my existence), but hadn't even conjured up a single sentence when it was time to head back down to the Great Hall.

* * *

The room was packed wall to wall with students of every shape and size. I even saw people I'd never seen before, and I was a fourth year! The four long house tables had vanished and now, a single long golden stage had taken their place. The room was completely overflowing with excitement, especially as to who would be the instructor for the evening, for the parchment on the notice board did not say. There was speculation that Flitwick would be the professor in charge because, as rumor had it, he had been a dueling champion in his younger days, but no one knew for sure.

"Maybe it'll be Dumbledore," Angelina suggested. "Can you imagine how amazing that would be?"

"I can't imagine Dumbledore dueling anyone," Alicia said. "He's just so...nice."

"Dumbledore wouldn't have to duel anyone," Fred added. "Everyone knows even You-Know-Who is afraid of him. No one would even _mess_ with Dumbledore."

"Wouldn't it be great if Lockhart taught it, though?" George offered. "How hysterical would that be?"

"We're about to find out," I said. Gilderoy Lockhart had just walked onto the golden stage in robes of violent plum.

"Spectacular!" George beamed. Then Snape walked onto the stage behind Lockhart.

"I may just die laughing!" Fred said. He continued to chortle after everyone else had silenced at the wave of Lockhart's hand.

"Gather round, gather round! Can everyone see me? Can you all hear me?"

"Unfortunately," George whispered to me, probably because he knew I wouldn't smack him like Alicia would have.

"Now, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little dueling club, to train you all in case you ever need to defend yourselves as I myself have done on countless occasions - for full details, see my published works."

Alicia sighed. George rolled his eyes. And, though I didn't dare look directly at him yet, I could've sworn I saw Oliver do the same.

"Let me introduce my assistant, Professor Snape. He tells me he knows a tiny little bit about dueling himself and has sportingly agreed to help me with a short demonstration before we begin. Now, I don't want any of you youngsters to worry - you'll still have your Potions master when I'm through with him, never fear!"

"Again, unfortunately," George said. I snorted.

Though Lockhart seemed entirely at ease, oozing confidence, Snape glared at him, his upper lip curling out of disgust. Then, they bowed to each other. Or rather, Snape jerked his head and Lockhart waved his arms around and around; although the room was dead silent out of anticipation, a few people couldn't help but snigger at the ridiculousness of it. Lockhart and Snape raised their wands at each other.

"As you see, we are holding our wands in the accepted combative position," Lockhart explained. "On the count of three, we will cast our first spells. neither of us will be aiming to kill, of course."

"Pity," Fred said on the other side of Angelina, who awkwardly barked a single laugh in the quiet.

"One - two - three -"

"_Expelliarmus!" _cried Snape. I couldn't see from where I stood, but I heard something smash against the wall. I could only assume who it was.

"Is he alright?" Alicia worried as she danced on her tiptoes in an attempt to see over the heads of the crowd.

"I hope not," George. Alicia reached over to smack him against the head. "I'm still not sorry." Alicia rolled her eyes.

"Well, there you have it!" Lockhart announced after he had composed himself from Snape's attack. "That was a Disarming Charm - as you see, I've lost my wand - ah, thank you, Miss Brown - yes, an excellent idea to show them that, Professor Snape, but if you don't mind my saying so, it was very obvious what you were about to do. If I had wanted to stop you it would have been only too easy - however, I felt it would be instructive to let them see..." He trailed off. Even though I couldn't see from my spot in the crowd, I presumed Snape's glare was particularly dreadful because then Lockhart began again "Enough demonstrating! I'm going to come amongst you now and put you all into pairs. Professor Snape, if you'd like to help me -" Of course, Snape ended up near us.

"Weasley, you go with Spinnet. Other Weasley, you go with Johnson," he pointed as to specify which twin went where. Then he pointed to me. "You're with him." And he pointed to Oliver.

I knew it was a lost cause and I knew back talking to Snape was about the worst thing anyone could do, but I did it anyway. "Professor, please, can't I go with George?"

Snape sneered. "No." Duh, Katie. Obviously he's not going to give you what you want. I nodded and sighed then Snape left to separate the others into pairs.

At least I'd be able to show _Wood_ what I was made of. Get a little revenge, even if all I was doing was disarming him. Maybe I'd just steal his wand for good and run away with it. I could flush it down a toilet or something. I smiled at the thought.

"Happy to be with me?" Oliver asked in an acerbic voice.

"Ecstatic," I growled as the smile ran away from my face. I glared at him as evil as I could and he glared right back.

"Face your partners!" yelled Lockhart. "And bow!"

I didn't take my eyes off Oliver as I bowed the slightest bit. He mirrored me.

"Wands at the ready!" shouted Lockhart. "When I count to three, cast your charms to disarm your opponents - _only_ to disarm them - we don't want any accidents - one...two...three-"

I spoke as soon as I could. "_Expelliarmus!"_

But Oliver beat me to the punch. I was knocked off my feet, flew backwards into the kid behind me, my wand in Oliver's hand before I'd even finished the incantation. I gritted my teeth as I pushed myself off the ground.

He held his hand out to give me back my wand, a smug look on his features. I wanted to punch him. Even if he was bigger than me.

I grabbed my wand from him as forcibly as I could. His cold smirk grew wider. _Oh, that did it._

Without any warning, I snapped around and yelled at the top of my lungs, "_Expelliarmus!"_

Oliver was sent flying about a two feet into the air, knocking two people over in the process, and then rolled backwards when he hit the floor. When he finally looked up from the stone floor, I saw that his nose was bleeding.

_Serves him right_, I thought to myself, though I tried very hard to keep from smirking. I knew that would only make things worse. And besides, George did say that Oliver was sorry, just that he wasn't quite ready to show it. I just wanted a little revenge, and I got it. I was satisfied. Apparently, Oliver, who had stood up and realized the trail of blood oozing down his chin, was not. The look he directed at me reminded me of the expression he reserved only for Marcus Flint. I couldn't help but grin this time. His glare intensified.

"I think I'd better teach you how to _block_ unfriendly spells," Lockhart said after surveying the crowd. Oliver was watching Lockhart, so I took the chance to observe everyone else. Quite a few people were on the floor, Seamus Finnigan was ashen-faced in the arms of Ron Weasley, and even little Hermione Granger was in a headlock from a Slytherin, their wands forgotten on the floor. Lockhart cleared his throat. "Let's have a volunteer pair - Longbottom and Finch-Fletchle, how about you -"

"A bad idea, Professor Lockhart," Snape commented as he strode over to where Lockhart stood. "Longbottom causes devastation with the simplest spells. We'll be sending what' left of Finch-Fletchley up to the hospital wing in a matchbox. How about Malfoy and Potter?"

"Excellent idea!" Lockhart called out. The crowd began to move backward and Harry and Draco Malfoy, a Slytherin, came into view. The crowd kept pressing back, giving Harry and Malfoy as much room as possible, and suddenly, against my wishes, I was pushed right up against Oliver. I looked up at him, actually rather scared what his reaction would be. He looked down at me and I saw he had already stopped his bloody nose with a charm and magicked the blood away. He smirked at me. I didn't know what to make of it, but I felt too awkward due to the close proximity, so I instantaneously redirected my gaze towards Harry.

"Three - two - one - go!" Lockhart shouted. I strained to see above the heads again.

"_Serpensortia!" _Malfoy cried. A great black snake shot out of the end of his wand and advanced on Harry. Several people screamed and the crowd pushed back farther, further pushing me up against Oliver. I was so close that I felt a muscle twitch in his stomach as I was pressed up against him. I took a deep breath and prayed he didn't notice.

"Don't move, Potter," Snape said, although it was evident he enjoyed the sight. "I'll get rid of it...."

"Allow me!" shouted Lockhart. He flicked his wand, which emitted a loud bang, and suddenly the snake flew ten feet in the air then fell back to the same spot on the floor with a loud _thud_. Even from where I was, pressed up way too tightly against Oliver Wood, I could tell the snake was having a fit now. It raised, fangs bared, and advanced on Justin Finch-Fletchley. I gasped along with everyone else.

I would never have expected what happened next.

Harry stood, face to face with the large snake, and was speaking in the strangest voice I'd ever heard. It was almost like he was _hissing_. Like he was talking to the snake. I glanced around the crowd to make sure I wasn't hearing things and what I saw confused me even more. Everyone's eyes were wide with fear, anger, some a mixture of both. Utter revulsion. I didn't get what the problem was. I mean, sure, Harry sounded completely ridiculous, but he wasn't doing anything wrong. Was he?

I chanced a look at Oliver again and instead of meeting my gaze like before, his eyes were also trained on Harry and the snake, the same mask of horror on his face. I looked back at Harry.

"What do you think you're playing at?" Justin shouted at Harry. Then he turned and ran out of the hall. Harry looked just as bewildered as I felt.

Snape stepped forward then and aimed his wand at the snake, which disappeared in a puff of black smoke. Even Snape was looking at Harry in the same peculiar way. I just didn't get it.

Then people began to talk.

"I can't believe it!"

"But I thought only Salazar Slytherin..."

"Parselmouth!"

"Did you see the way he attacked Justin?"

None of it made any sense.

I saw Harry being ushered out of the hall by Ron and Hermione and then turned to Oliver, hoping he could make light of what had just transpired. He was already looking down at me with the most anxious eyes I'd ever seen.

"Come with me," was all he said. Then he took me by the hand and dragged me out of the Great Hall.


	10. Giving In

_This chapter brings me into the double digits!! I can't even begin to tell you how into this story I've been the past few days. I was so anxious to update because I wanted to get to this chapter, this point. That being said, I probably won't be updating once a day now. I do actually have a semblance of a life. Maybe you'll get lucky though and I'll get too excited to keep my story to myself and update over the weekend. Anyways, I think you'll all enjoy this chapter _:)

CHAPTER 10 - GIVING IN

Grasping my hand much tighter than was necessary, Oliver hauled me up the marble staircase to the second floor. He pulled me through corridor after corridor, and shot a troubled look at the wall when we passed through the corridor where the Heir of Slytherin had left his mark. The blood, though having been dry for weeks, still glittered ominously. It took me a second to find my voice.

"Oliver, where are we going?" I asked quietly. Something about his countenance was putting me on edge.

He didn't answer, but at that exact moment, he tugged me into a room on the left side of the hall and shut the door behind him. There was no light in the room, just the faint glow of the moon hiding behind the clouds filtering through the window. Once my eyes adjusted to the lack of light, I gathered more of where we were. Desks were skewed across the floor, each with varying amounts of dust, and a large bookcase stood by the door, home now to only a rather large spider in her web. I cringed. The only time I was okay around spiders was in potions, and even then, they were at least dead. I stared, unable to take my eyes off the arachnid, when I heard loud, fast footsteps.

Oliver was pacing, back and forth at lightning speed, so fast he should've worn a hole in the floor. His eyebrows were furrowed in a straight line, deep over his eyes. I tilted my head to the side.

"Oliver?" He froze for a moment and looked up at me with wide eyes, but he said nothing. Pointing to the big desk nearest him (probably the professor's), he motioned for me to sit, and continued plowing a path in the dust-frosted floor. I shrugged, still not sure what to make of the odd situation, glanced nervously one last time at the spider, and then made to sit down on the desk. I had to brush off a wall of dust; obviously, this room hadn't been used in years.

Knowing I wouldn't get a response out of him, I sat on top of the desk in front of him and just watched him and flitted back and forth. If he hadn't glimpsed at me at least once every rotation, I would've thought he'd forgotten I was there. I went back to monitoring the too-large-for-comfort spider. It hadn't moved yet, so I nearly fell off the desk in fright when the spider speedily crawled down the side of the bookcase and scurried underneath the door.

"Katie." I jumped again at the sudden sound of Oliver's voice.

"Oliver, what is this all about? What happened back there?"

He stepped quite close to me then, a dead serious look on his face.

"Katie, do you know what a Parselmouth is?"

I shook my head.

"A Parselmouth is a person who can talk to snakes."

"So Harry _was_ talking to that snake?"

"Yes." His expression held no amusement. I didn't understand what was wrong.

"Well, so what? I mean, it's kind of weird. And Slytherin's mascot is a snake, so it's kind of...unfortunate, but..." Oliver's eyes peered into mine and I knew then what he was about to say was something I wasn't going to want to hear.

"Katie, Salazar Slytherin was a Parselmouth."

That was all I needed to make the connection. My heart shut down before it picked up at full speed.

"But, Oliver, you can't possibly think that...." I didn't say Harry's name. I didn't want to speak the truth. That would've meant acknowledging my fear.

"What else am I supposed to think?"

"I don't know. Think about Quidditch or something. Nothing's ever stopped you from doing that before."

He glared at me then, but not with the hate-filled eyes from before. "This is serious, Katie."

"But it can't be Harry! You know him as well as I! He's a good kid, he'd _never_ hurt anyone." My voice sounded desperate.

"Whether my seeker is the Heir of Slytherin or not, that doesn't change what's happened, what's _happening_." He swallowed convulsively.

"What do you mean?"

"Filch's cat, that Creevey kid, and now _this_. Katie," Oliver's face grew hopeless, "_I'm terrified you'll be next_."

I looked at him with eyes just as forlorn as his. I didn't know what to say, what to do. I slowly wrapped my arms around him from where I still sat on the rickety desk. His quick, unsteady breaths tickled my ear.

"Oliver," I said, leaning back to see his face, "shouldn't I be the one going to pieces?"

"Aren't you scared?"

I took a deep breath and squeezed my eyes shut. " I'm terrified."

This time, I felt _his_ arms wind themselves around _me_. He pulled me into him and held me so tightly that I felt nothing would get to me, nothing _could _get to me. I felt _safe._

"Shh, Katie. It's okay," he whispered in my ear. "I promise I won't let anything hurt you. Please don't cry."

I was sobbing now, the true realization of horror hitting hard and hitting fast.

"But - what if it - is me?" I blubbered between sobs. "What if I'm - next?"

His arms constricted around me. "You won't be. You can't be."

It was all too much to bear. The rational side of my mind shut down and my subconscious kicked into full gear. The tears stopped.

"Why would you care if I _was _next?"

Oliver jerked away from me and an angry look crossed his face.

"How can you say that?"

"I was under the impression you hated me."

His eyes softened, but his expression was still uncomfortable. "I could never hate you, Katie."

"Then why did you want me off the team?"

"Didn't George tell you I was sorry?"

"He did, but you-"

"Katie, I'm sorry. So sorry. I only did those things because I was mad at you for... before. I didn't really mean any of it. I overreacted. I was dumb and an idiot. But you know that, you know I'm an idiot. I'm so stupid for-"

"Stop, Oliver." He looked up at me with a hint of hysteria on his face. "I get it. It's okay. It was my fault in the first place. I'm sorry for everything I said and did."

"No. I'm sorry for forcing myself on you. I just... I care about you a lot, Katie. Much more than I should." He looked down at his hands.

I swallowed nervously. Of course he would bring it up. Of course.

"Look, Oliver, I care about you too. You're one of my best friends. " As I said it, I knew it was true. "But please don't do this. It's too much."

"It's not like I can help it." More anger.

"Try... or something. Can't we just be friends? I can't change my feelings, Oliver."

His eyes connected with mine: at first, they were in pain, but the pain dulled. "Okay," he sighed. "Just promise me you'll be okay, Katie."

My mouth ran dry. "I promise," I breathed, though it wasn't really a promise I could keep. He pulled me to his chest once more and I shivered as I thought of the future and the Chamber of Secrets.

_So there you have it? Do you think Oliver made up for being such a huge jerk at practice? What about while dueling? Oh, and if you review, tell me what country you're from! It's always interesting to find out who exactly is reading this. Until next time, cheerio!_


	11. George

_Sorry for the slight wait, but you'll be glad to know that all of my classes have been cancelled for the remainder of the week due to snow. It's like the fan fiction gods want me to update! So I am. I wanted this chapter to be longer, but as it turns out, the next event in the story is Christmas break and I'm not entirely sure where I want to go with that since I was hoping I'd have more time to work with. You probably won't have to wait long for my next update though, seeing as I have quite a bit of free time now. Speaking of updating, I only got about four reviews when I posted three chapters in two days! You can probably imagine how disappointed I was. So, this chapter is dedicated to those who did review:_

_luverofjamesandlily- don't worry. Katie won't be able to ignore Oliver forever ;)_

_OliveTreeHugger- you said you were so happy to see three chapters waiting for you when your computer got fixed, well, I was so happy to see someone get that excited about me updating! I know the dueling was rushed, but it was rushed in the book too. Thanks for the compliments. _

_CrystalPhoenix777- your consecutive reviews made my night! The cookies and chocolate are appreciated :)_

_AdidasandPie- I was wondering when you'd review again! For some reason, I always look forward to your reviews more than most of the others. Couldn't tell you why. Maybe it's because they seem the most helpful and encouraging? Either way, thanks!_

_That's a long enough intro. Chapter 11!_

_Credit to J. K. Rowling._

CHAPTER 11 - GEORGE

It seemed every single Gryffindor was crammed into the common room that night, and despite all the body heat, a steady chill still floated throughout the room due to the snow that had begun to furiously fall outside. Or maybe it was just because everyone was afraid Harry was going to attack someone else. Not a second passed where someone didn't nervously glance at the poor boy, but I did my best not to do the same. As scared as I was, I still couldn't bring myself to believe the rumors about Harry.

I sat by myself at a couch pressed up against one of the windows. Oliver was on the other side of the room sitting with the twins. Just like Harry, I tried to avoid looking at him, but his gaze never faltered. I could practically feel the hole his eyes were burning in the side of my head, but not wanting to give him the wrong idea, I just stared out the window at the merciless snow outside.

Little by little, the anxious whispers died down and soon the common room was empty. I thought I was alone until I felt a weight on the couch beside me. Dammit. So much for escaping.

"Are you okay, Katie?"

I turned in surprise. It was George, not Oliver.

"Uh, yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" I said. With too much enthusiasm, might I add. I'd always been a terrible liar.

"Well, for one, you've been sitting here alone all night. And two, your hands are shaking."

I tried to inconspicuously glance down at my hands and sure enough, they were all a flutter.

"Just cold," I tried to pass off. I could tell George wasn't about to buy it. What was the point in lying again?

"You're right. There...is something wrong," I mumbled as I turned back toward the window. He didn't say anything. Great, he wanted an explanation. I didn't know what to say to him! I'd already told Alicia and Angelina everything. What was this? Interrogate-Katie Day?

He was motionless beside me, still waiting for an answer. It _would _be nice to talk to someone who _wasn't_ Oliver. Or someone who wouldn't gush over every word I said like Angelina and Alicia. And George had been there for me earlier. He seemed like I could trust him. But how much did I want to tell him? I tossed the words around in my mind before I looked back at him.

"George," I said as I kept my eyes on my hands, "can I talk to you?"

"That's what I'm here for!" he smirked. I couldn't help but smile.

Then I told him about everything prior to the dueling club.

"Wow," was all he said.

"Yeah..."

"You do realize that Fred is now the only one still in the dark."

"Huh. I guess you're right. Well, Harry doesn't know either."

"Maybe that's a good thing," he murmured. I stared at him before I understood.

"George Weasley, don't you _dare_ tell me that you think Harry is the Heir of Slytherin!"

"No, no!" He held up his hands defensively. "I don't know who it could be. No one does. I'm just looking at the possibilities, that's all."

I nodded. I couldn't blame him. Everyone was so paranoid anymore. No one knew what to think or who to trust.

"Don't worry, Katie. We have Dumbledore. Everything is going to be fine." He put an arm around me and pulled me to his side. I nodded again into his shoulder.

"That brings me to my next point," I muttered as I leaned away from him. "Um...well, I'm - I'm kind of having some problems with-"

"Oliver?" That was the second time that George had read my mind that day.

"How-" I began, but George cut me off again.

"He's told us everything." I opened my mouth, ready to spew insults about my captain, but then George amended, "Well, not everything. Calm down. He just told us, well, he told us his point of view, I guess you could say."

"So you know what happened tonight then?"

"Yeah," he said guiltily. I rolled my eyes.

"I wish he would just leave me alone," I grumbled as I folded my arms and turned to glare out the window again. Real mature, Bell.

"Katie, he can't help it. He's just trying to look out for you. Maybe if you gave him a chance you'd find that you like him too."

"Don't be ridiculous," I snapped as I focused on the snowflakes pelting the ground.

"I'm not saying you have to like him. I'm just saying maybe you'd want to think about it. And if you'd rather not, that's fine too. You can let me know if he makes any more unwanted advances and I'll happily kick his arse for you." I couldn't help but turn to smile at him then.

"I think I'm perfectly capable of kicking his arse myself, thanks."

"Oh, I know. I'd just like to get the satisfaction of doing it myself as well. Merlin knows I could use some revenge for all those early morning practices." I rolled my eyes again and hit him playfully.

"Come on, I think it's time we go to bed," I said as I stood up.

"But Katie! So soon!" George said with a shocked look on his face.

"Get your mind out of the gutter, Weasley." He chuckled then stood up and headed over to the staircase with me.

"Goodnight, Katie," he said as he wrapped his arms around me in a hug. Quite suddenly, I was hit with the aroma of his skin. Damn, did George Weasley smell good.

"Goodnight, George," I whispered against his chest.

We then parted ways, he up to the boys' dorms and I up to the girls'. When I entered the room, I was pleased to find that the other girls were already asleep.

I changed into my pajamas slowly, a goofy grin plastered on my face which stayed in place until I drifted off to sleep.

* * *

By Monday, the grounds were smothered by snow. In some places, the drifts were as tall as first years and consequently, all Herbology lessons had been cancelled. This meant my morning was free, as I only had Herbology and a break period. Though I would've liked to join Fred and George (who also had time to spare due to Herbology) in the snow, I instead slugged to the library and attempted to study for potions. I should've known it would be a lost cause. The moment I stepped in the room, I noticed a large group of Hufflepuffs at one of the tables. I wasn't close enough to hear what they were saying, but judging by the way they were huddled together, the topic of their conversation wasn't hard to guess. Before long, Harry himself came out from behind one of the bookcases and confronted the group of Hufflepuffs whose faces were ashen with suspicion. I couldn't see the rest of the skirmish, however, as I had to leave for Charms.

I got to Flitwick's classroom early enough that I was lucky to snag a seat in the back next to George. (Fred and George were never late for charms. They felt it was the only class that actually did them any good.)

"Hey," I said with a smile as I plopped down next to him.

"Oh, hey, Katie," he replied. Was it my imagination or did he sound the slightest bit disappointed?

"Alright if I sit here?" Not that I was going to move if he said no.

"Yeah. Fine." He smiled politely. I brushed it off as Professor Flitwick entered the room and began the lesson.

"Hey, guys!" Alicia squeaked as she snuck in late to class. She sat down on George's other side.

"Hey, Alicia," George smiled. I did the same.

"What have I missed?" she said as she whipped out her text book.

"We're learning about Cheering Charms today," George answered.

"You reckon Flitwick's doing this because of the attacks?" I asked. He turned to look at me. Alicia leaned around his shoulder.

"Couldn't hurt, could it?" he suggested. Then it was time to pay attention, Flitwick had begun walking around the classroom.

That was when it happened.

"ATTACK! ATTACK! ANOTHER ATTACK! NO MORTAL OR GHOST IS SAFE! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! ATTAAAACK!"

"Everyone stay in your seats!" Flitwick roared, but the entire class had already started to file out in the hall. I was at the front of the crowd, squeezed between George and Alicia.

"Bloody hell," George whispered in the moment of silence as everyone took in the scene. My eyes widened in horror.

Harry was in the middle of the hall and right next to him lay Justin Finch-Fletchley, solid as stone. Next to Justin, lay Nearly Headless Nick, hovering just above the floor, his figure a smokey black instead of pearly transparent. All of their faces held the same expression: utter terror, though Harry was quite obviously not petrified. His eyes were frantically darting around the room, looking at all the faces that now surrounded him.

"Everyone back to your classes!" Professor McGonagall ordered as she came running down the hall. Everyone beside me started making their way back into the classroom, but I couldn't move. My eyes were locked on Justin's frozen face.


	12. Sugar Rush

_I had THE HARDEST time writing this chapter. Oh my gosh, the first two sections were just so tricky and felt soooooo boring. I revised them a few times and I hope it doesn't seem as horrible to you as it does to me. I finally got back in the swing of things with the last section, which I think you'll all enjoy. Oh, and while I'm at it, I might as well give you a heads up about the next chapter. It's going to be in a slightly different format (my roommate's idea actually) and I'm pretty excited to write it. I think it'll be the perfect way to jump over the hurdle that is Katie's Christmas Break, because you and I both know, Katie's life without Oliver wouldn't make for as good of a story. Despite my excitement, it might take a while to write because I want chapter 13 to be absolutely perfect! If I end up taking a long time to update, know this: while I think you'll like chapter 13, I know you'll LOVE chapter 14. And that is all I have to say._

_J. K. Rowling's writing is magical and mine is not. Credit for the names, characters, and such go to her. But the plot for this entire chapter is mine. All mine! Bwahhahaha! _

CHAPTER 12 - SUGAR RUSH

In all my years at Hogwarts, there had never been such impatience for the Christmas holidays. Quite a few people had packed weeks in advance, anxious to escape the wrath of Slytherin's monster, and those who hadn't done the same packed the moment they heard of the double attack on Justin and Nearly Headless Nick. I was no exception.

I wanted out. I was so sick of living a life of paranoia. What was worse was Oliver was just as bad as the Heir of Slytherin! Except whereas the Heir of Slytherin went after any Muggle-born, Oliver only had it in for me. The boy never left me alone! If George hadn't suggested that I be nice to Oliver, I gladly would've tripped him every time he walked up to me to ask me if I was "okay." You'd think after asking me the same question five times a day and getting the same answer every time, he'd get it through that thick skull of his that I wasn't okay, and that I wasn't going to be until Muggle-borns stopped dropping left and right. Honestly.

But George was right; as annoying as Oliver was, he only did it out of care. So, I did my best and put on a smile whenever Oliver Wood came lurking. Leave it to me to attract the most persistent boy on the planet.

If I was being completely honest with myself, the only reason I didn't want to leave school straight away was George. He was staying at Hogwarts over the holidays with the rest of the Weasleys while his parents visited his older brother, Bill, in Egypt. I was going to be miles away from him and frankly, I didn't want to be even a foot away from him.

I know, I know, so I kind of exaggerated, but I'd never had someone care so deeply about me before. I'd known George Weasley for years and I'd never looked twice at him, but the past few days had put everything into perspective. I didn't know why I'd never paid closer attention, but suddenly all his admirable qualities were magnified right before my eyes. He was funny (though that goes without saying). He was caring. He was dedicated, brilliant, charming, fun to be around, optimistic, and had a contagious smile and laugh to boot. Really, I just couldn't help myself.

Yes, I couldn't wait to go home, to escape the Chamber of Secrets and Oliver Wood, but I would miss the hell out of George Weasley. Which is why I resolved to write him at least once a week over break.

"Promise you'll write to me over break?" I asked him at dinner the last night before vacation.

"Of course!" he spluttered around a mouthful of food.

"Such manners," Angelina chided from across the table.

"You would know," George remarked as he pointed his fork at her. Angelina blushed furiously.

Angelina had finally mustered up the courage to tell Fred how she felt and consequently, they had been caught snogging on almost every surface of the Gryffindor common room. At first, it was cute. Now it was kind of disgusting, however, this didn't wipe the smug grin off Alicia's face.

"It's a good thing you two are being separated over break," Alicia said as she motioned between Angelina and Fred. "I shiver to think what would happen if you had Gryffindor tower alone together."

Angelina's cheeks deepened even more in color. Fred just full out laughed.

"Oliver, you're being very quiet," Angelina said, desperate to change the focus of the conversation. Everyone turned to face Oliver who was just staring at his plate.

"Oliver?" she repeated. Fred put a finger to her lips, wadded up his napkin, and launched it at Oliver's head.

As soon as the makeshift ball had left Fred's hand, Oliver's hand had caught it. He didn't even look up.

"Wow! What spectacular reflexes! Young man, have you ever considered trying out for keeper?" Fred joked.

"Shove off," Oliver grumbled before he pitched the wadded up napkin back at an unsuspecting Fred.

George turned and looked at me sternly, sure that I was the cause of Oliver's surliness. I shrugged and smiled sheepishly as I tried to muffle the butterflies in my stomach.

* * *

"Katie! Come on, we have to go!" Angelina shouted at me as I showered. "The train is leaving in a half hour and we still haven't had breakfast!"

"You can go without me!" I yelled back. "Save me a seat on the train!"

I hurried as best as I could once I was clean, throwing on the first clothes I could find and throwing everything else in my trunk. Slightly out of breath and starving, I gathered up all my belongings in my arms, including the hefty trunk, and headed out the door.

"One step at a time, Bell. One step at a time," I huffed to myself. Then I tripped.

Two strong arms caught me, but all of my possessions flew down the staircase and scattered across the floor of the common room.

"You all right, Katie?" It was Oliver, and he was asking that same damn question again, except this time he was smirking.

I drew in a sharp breath and then almost felt dizzy. I had thought George had smelled good, but George had _nothing_ on Oliver.

Wait...Oliver? No. I didn't think of Oliver that way. Oliver was just Oliver. Annoying, obsessed Oliver Wood.

"You do realize you're a witch, don't you?" he asked, an amused smile still playing at his lips.

"Why do you ask?" I said puzzled as he finally straightened me up before letting go.

"Because you were carrying the biggest trunk I've ever seen and tripped down the stairs because of it, when you could've simply charmed it." He raised his eyebrows at me.

"I-I was-"

"Wingardium leviosa," he said as he pointed his wand at the huge trunk.

"Thanks," I murmured quietly.

"No problem," he said with a smile. "I can take it down to the train for you, if you'd like. I've already had breakfast."

"Oh, really, Oliver. Thanks, but that's fine," I said as I picked up the rest of my belongings that had dispersed across the floor.

"It's no problem. I've got nothing else to do."

"Oh...okay then. Thanks, Oliver."

"See you on the train?" he asked. I looked up at him then. I was half hoping he wouldn't say that.

"Sure," I replied.

"Great," he mused and then left with my trunk floating in front of him.

It was then that I realized I had been holding my breath. I let out a huge gasp of air before I continued cleaning up.

_Well_, I thought to myself,_ that was odd._

* * *

I had held onto George as long as I could before boarding the Hogwarts Express, but once the train started pulling out of the station, I was forced to let go.

With a huge exhale of acceptance, I made my way down the carriage looking for the compartment that contained Angelina and Alicia. I didn't have to search long before Alicia's head poked out into the corridor and beckoned me towards her.

I should've known Oliver would be there. And I should've known the only open seat would be next to him. Stupid Angelina and Alicia; they just had to be best friends. Hmph.

"I cannot wait to get home," Alicia sighed as she plopped back down on her seat and propped her hands behind her head.

"Tell me about it," I said. I couldn't wait for this train ride to be over. Oliver was way too close to me.

"So...what shall we do then?" Angelina asked. "Since we have quite the block of uninterrupted time before us."

"Good thing Fred's not here," Oliver sniggered. Alicia gave him a high five.

"Well fine," Angelina shot back, "if you guys are going to be like that, then I'm going to go find the trolley." She stood up to leave but just at that moment the food trolley arrived at our cabin. Hah, so much for her escape.

"Anything off the trolley, dears?" the kindly old witch asked.

"I'll have a few cauldron cakes, please," Angelina said as she handed over the money.

"And I'll just have a licorice wand," Alicia added.

I was feeling daring. "I'll have Bertie Bott's please."

After we all handed the witch our money, she turned to Oliver, sure that he would order something as well. The rest of us knew better: the idea of no-junk-food Oliver Wood eating candy was downright laughable. Oliver's expression scrunched up in thought and then he spoke.

"I'll have five pumpkin pasties, two licorice wands, five Fizzing Whizbees, ten chocolate frogs, and a bottle of pumpkin juice."

All four of our mouths dropped to the floor. He looked around abashed.

"So I have a bit of a sweet tooth?" he said with wide eyes.

"No, you have a bit of a problem," the trolley witch said as she handed over all the sweets and moved on to the next carriage.

We all watched him with wide eyes as he began stuffing a pumpkin pasty in his mouth. Alicia was the first to gain composure. "Wow, Wood. No wonder you're always on some rubbish athletic diet. If you had a normal appetite _and_ ate all this, you'd probably explode."

"But thank goodness he's our crazed Quidditch captain and isn't normal," Angelina piped up.

"You got that right," I said with a giggle.

"Hey!" Oliver objected. Bits of pastry spouted from his mouth and hit the other girls. Okay, so maybe it wasn't so bad having to sit next to Oliver. I laughed as they squirmed around trying to avoid the chewed food, squealing like pigs.

"Don't think I've forgotten about you, Miss Bell," Oliver said as a wicked glint came into his eyes. I yelped and then he pounced on me and began tickling anything his hands could reach.

I might not have mentioned this, but I don't do well with tickling.

I'm sure the conductor could hear my shrieks of laughter. And I bet you some of the first years might have thought there was a banshee onboard.

"Oliver! Stop it! Stop!" I screeched. I was running out of air from laughter. Too much longer, and Mr. Wood would be responsible for my death.

"Only if - you promise never to - insult - me - again!" he growled as his fingers grazed my sides.

"Fine! FINE! I surrender!" And he let go, straightened up, and left me gasping for air.

"Bloody hell. He's only eaten one thing and look what the sugar has done to him," Angelina said.

"Oh, I don't think it's the sugar that's got him riled up," Alicia whispered to her.

I'll let that one slide, Spinnet.

I opened up the container of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans and then an idea hit me.

"Hey guys, I have an idea how to pass the time."

All three pairs of eyes looked at me in anticipation, then wandered down to the carton in my hands and swiftly turned apprehensive.

"Oh come on, you've all had them before. Everyone's eaten a bogey-flavored bean at least once in their life."

"And I'd like to keep it that way, thanks," Alicia said.

"Please? We can all just reach in and try one. It'll be funny!"

"Yeah, funny when _you're _not the one eating a vomit-flavored one," Angelina noted.

"Katie's got a point," Oliver remarked. For a moment, I considered hugging him. _Only _for a moment. "It'll be funny." He smiled innocently. I offered him the box of beans. He extracted one and popped it in his mouth.

"Hmmm..." he pondered as he chewed. "Marshmallow," he declared.

"See?" I asked. "No harm done. Give it a try." I held the container out to Alicia, who nervously put her hand in and grabbed a jelly bean.

She stared at the small candy for a bit, deliberating, and then put on a determined face and tossed it in. Almost immediately, a look of disgust overcame her.

"Blech! Rotten egg. I told you!" No one had sympathy.

"Alicia," Angelina said around giggles,"how do - you - know what - rotten eggs taste - like?"

"You don't want to know," she answered darkly and she shook her head in disgust one last time. "Your turn, Katie. Payback." I rolled my eyes; candy, how intimidating.

But I felt hypocritical the moment I bit down.

"Ew! Sardines! I _hate _sardines!" I opened my mouth and wagged my tongue around in the air, desperately trying to rid myself of the taste. Alicia laughed harder than anyone else.

Angelina went next and got lucky with strawberry mousse. Oliver wasn't so lucky the second time around: after he had eaten the bean, we discovered it was centipede-flavored. It wasn't pretty.

"I think it's time for some chocolate frogs," he said as he reached into his stash by the window. I plunged my hand into my Bertie Bott's and ate a few, trying not to think about the flavors.

"Anyone want one?" he politely asked.

"No thanks, I'm all candied out," Angelina sighed and waved dismissively.

"Good, because I wasn't really going to give you one anyway." He unwrapped the chocolate frog then, and despite his astonishing reflexes, the frog leaped from his grasp. Right at Alicia. She screamed.

Oliver lunged at her just as the frog jumped onto the wall behind her. He went after the frog again but just as he was about to grab it, it jumped on top of Angelina's head.

"_Don't you dare_," Angelina growled at Oliver as she slowly and calmly reached up and grabbed the unsuspecting frog. With a tight grasp, she handed it to Oliver. "Eat it, now."

Oliver nodded and obeyed.

Merlin, it was at that second that I got the strongest chocolate craving ever. I thought about how I could steal a chocolate frog from Oliver and came up blank. But then it hit me: no one else would be able to convince Oliver to give them something, but _I _could. I could probably get anything I wanted from him.

Oh, Katie Bell, you mischievous little devil.

"Oliver?" I asked in a sickly sweet voice. He turned to face me with wide eyes and a frog sticking halfway out of his mouth. I batted my eyelashes. I probably looked ridiculous, but I didn't let that stop me. "Oliver, do you think _I _could maybe have one" I leaned towards him "itsy," closer "bitsy," closer still "chocolate frog?" I breathed in his ear. I heard him swallow uneasily.

He didn't even say anything as he handed me three chocolate frogs. Merlin, this boy was mental!

"Thanks, Ollie," I said with a smile. He could only nod. Never doubt the power of women.

The train ride was pretty quiet after that. Thankfully, Alicia had not commented on my seduction stint, though she did watch me with knowing eyes until we arrived at King's Cross where we clambered off the train in one group.

"Oh, have a nice holiday, Katie," Angelina said as she grabbed me in a hug. "Be on the lookout for a gift from me!"

"Same here," Alicia said as she butted in front of Angelina.

"You can expect a gift for both of you from me on Christmas morning," I said.

"What about me?" Oliver asked over Alicia's shoulder.

"Of course, Oliver. You know I always send the team presents." He quirked an eyebrow at me and held out his arms. Oh, he wasn't asking about Christmas presents.

One hug, Bell. One hug isn't that bad.

I walked over to him and wrapped my arms around his middle. He rested his head on top of mine as his arms wound around me.

"Merry Christmas, Katie," he murmured.

Hey, at least he smelled just as good as he had in the common room. _And_ he had given me chocolate.

"Merry Christmas, Oliver," I replied before I let go and ran through the barrier to find my parents.


	13. Dear Katie

The credit for this spanking good idea goes to my roommate. I tried to get pretty crafty, so whip out that Mad-Eye Moody Magic Eyeball and analyze away! It was quite a challenge to try to tell the story _through_ the letters, but I did my best and hopefully everything comes across how it should. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me in the reviews, though anything you ask is probably something I've left out on purpose because I plan on resolving it in chapter fourteen, which - like I said before - is a chapter you will love. You have no choice in the matter haha.

For reference:

_Katie is in italics_

**George is in bold**

Oliver is normal

Credit to J.K. Rowling for the characters, places, and Chamber of Secrets subplot (even though it's not really even in this chapter).

Oh, one last thing! I _finally_ got around to watching A Very Potter Musical and bloody hell, it was the funniest thing I've ever seen (along with James's Truth - check that out if you haven't). Usually, I don't find the crap on Youtube even the remotest bit funny, but alas, here I was alone in my dorm cackling like an idiot. Voldy and Quirrell for life.

I lied. One more thing. I haven't gotten any reviews and I've seriously been posting like crazy. That's the main reason it took longer than usual to get this chapter out. I didn't have any motivation because people didn't even care about the last few chapters. I really hate to sound greedy and demand reviews and crap because I hate when people do that, but really. I feel like I'm writing this for no one but myself sometimes, and while I love it, I wouldn't put it on here if I didn't want other people to read it. So please, if you like what you're reading, just review to let me know. Only one word would do! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Now I'm done. For reals.

CHAPTER 13 - DEAR KATIE

_Dear George,_

_I feel rather pathetic writing already, seeing as it's only been a day since I last saw you, but I'm just so bored. My dad and my brother Brandon are nowhere to be found (probably out doing last minute shopping) and my mum never leaves the kitchen (I swear, the kitchen table has disappeared under all the cookies). It's so lonely. Don't get me wrong, it's a huge relief not having to worry about the Chamber of Secrets, but I miss the hustle and bustle of Hogwarts. I guess I just thought that once I got home, we'd have time to just be a family together, but so far, things aren't turning out how I planned. I've pretty much just watched the telly since I've been home, although you probably haven't the faintest idea what that is. I'm supposed to meet up with a few of my Muggle friends tomorrow but we've grown apart seeing as how I'm only home during holidays, but I think it'll be fun._

_Can you believe Snape gave us two essays on Wit-Sharpening Potions? Yeah, I'm not surprised either. I tried starting it yesterday, but no such luck. I'll probably just do it the day before term starts. I'm guessing you will too and you'll still get better marks than me, am I right?_

_Nothing else to say for now. How's Hogwarts?_

_Katie_

**Dearest, most wonderful friend of mine, Katie,**

**How absolutely splendid of you to have written me already. Really, quite divine. Having Hogwarts to ourselves is pretty fun. Last night, Harry, Ron, Fred, and I played a game of Exploding Snap that lasted until four in the morning. I don't know about Harry and Ron, but I just woke up about two hours ago. Fred's still asleep. Go figure.**

**You're completely right about Snape's essays, but I'm not worried. After all, my wits are as sharpened as can be, so it'll be easy. If I'm wrong, then Fred and I can just slip some dungbombs loose in class, get told off, and dragged to Flich's office. Foolproof way of buying yourself some time, believe me - Fred and I have used it for years. **

**Sorry to hear about your lack of a family. Couldn't you join your mum in the kitchen? You say the table is covered in sweets? That's where I would be. As for the telly, yes, I know what it is. Dad brought one home last year. It's ridiculous how all those little people fit inside! I tried to talk to them, but I guess they couldn't hear me. I wonder if we could put Percy inside one...**

**Good luck with your Muggle friends! (Though I'm sure they're not half as spectacular as I am.)**

**George**

_Oh sinister, red-headed Great One,_

_I wish I would've stayed at Hogwarts. It sounds like you're having much, much more fun than I am. Lunch with my Muggle friends the other day was okay, except all they really talked about was school and the boys there. Definitely not as spectacular as you :) As for joining my mom in the kitchen, can you really see me, Katie Bell, master of disaster, cooking? I tremble at the thought. The living room is the only safe place for me. Yesterday my dad took me out shopping with him and my brother, but it wasn't fun as much as it was stressful. We kept losing track of Brandon (he's only seven). I can only imagine the oodles of fun your mum had running around with you and Fred when you were younger. Speaking of you and your devious brother, I hate to see the state of Gryffindor Tower at the start of term. I imagine McGonagall isn't too fond of the fact that you're staying for the holidays. Exploding Snap until four in the morning, you say? Weak. I would've gone until five. The most magical thing I've done since I've been home is I went for a ride on my broom in the backyard. I took Brandon for a ride last night around ten. We have no idea if he's a Muggle or not. He hasn't shown any signs of magic yet, but neither did I until I was nine. I shudder to think of the influence you'll have over him when he comes to Hogwarts. My life will be impossible._

_Let me know if you ever succeed in trapping Percy in the telly. I want to be the first to know._

_Katie_

Dear Katie,

Merry Christmas!

I know, I know, it's actually Christmas Eve, but I wanted to be the first one to say it, so I sent this early. Just don't open the present yet. Save that for tomorrow. I really hope you like it.

How has your break been so far? I mean, I know it's only been a few days, but the Muggle world has to be interesting after being at Hogwarts for so long, right? My break has been pretty boring, though I love being with my family. I guess it's because without Quidditch I feel lazy, though I still practice once a day by bewitching a Quaffle. It's not the same, but you probably understand that. How's your family? I miss your mum. Is she making those same cookies that she did last year? If so, pretty please bring some back for me? I promise not to go too hard on you in practice if you do :)

I was hoping I'd have more to say, but I guess I've already said it all. I just really wanted to talk to you.

Merry Christmas again!

Oliver

_Dear Oliver,_

_Thanks for the bracelet! It's beautiful. Break's okay, not too exciting. You've only met my mom once, how can you miss her? Yes, she's making the same cookies. I'll bring some back if I remember._

_Merry Christmas._

_Katie_

**Dear peasant Katie,**

**That's right. I am the Great One. Don't you forget it. Merry Christmas!**

**I love the Whoopie Cushion you gave me. I'm not sure what it does or how to work it, but I'm sure it'll come in handy. **

**Fred and I, devious? What ever do you mean? Oh, Katie Bell, you make me laugh. I love your name. Katie Bell Katie Bell Katie Bell. You are so swell! I can hear you laughing at that now, though let's face it, every word that leaves my mouth is funny. Or quill, I suppose, if you'd prefer to be more accurate.**

**Exploding Snap until 5am? Is that a challenge?**

**As for McGonagall, I don't know what you're talking about. She's positively rapturous that we're here to keep her company! Though you are right about the hell that will break loose if your brother falls into our hands. I can promise you that :)**

**Fred**** George**

_Dear George,_

_Thank you, thank you, thank you for your present! Fireworks that explode into my name? Ingenious. Not to mention the_ _oh so subtle hints in your last letter. Oh, you crafty little redhead._

_I'm glad you like your present. Maybe I'll give you a demonstration on how it works once term starts :)_

_As for Exploding Snap until 5am, um, duh it's a challenge! You pansy. Moaning Myrtle could probably stay up later than your arse. Wimp :)_

_And don't you even think about ever talking to my brother. Ever. Or I'll have you fed to that three-headed dog Harry said Hagrid had last year. That's a promise._

_I can't wait to see you! Only two more days and then it's goodbye, Muggle world, hello, George Weasley!_

_I miss you._

_Katie_

Dear Katie,

I'm so glad you liked the bracelet! I wanted to find the perfect gift so it literally took me forever to find it. Okay, that's an exaggeration. It took me about a week. I was browsing through Quality Quidditch Supples (what a shock, I know) about to give up and buy you something stupid with no meaning, when I stumbled across this little jewel (pun intended!) and automatically thought of you. You're the only person I've ever met whose passion has ever rivaled mine. I know, I know, that sounds conceited. Sorry - you know what I mean. Anyways, the Quaffle charm was obviously what drew me to it and I considered finding a bracelet with only that charm on it, but then I decided the one with all the Quidditch balls was prettier and therefore more you. I hope you like the lion charm. It wasn't included; just call it my own personal touch :)

I only needed to meet your mom once to know that she's probably the most amazing mom on the planet. Except for mine of course, but I think I'm biased :)

Thank Merlin there are only two days left until the term picks back up. I'm really looking forward to those cookies (pretty please!) but more importantly, I'm looking forward to seeing you.

I miss you.

Oliver

**Katie Bell (explosion),**

**You're on. Exploding Snap, first night back. First one to fall asleep has to hug Marcus Flint. Maybe we should get dear old Wood involved!**

**Fed to Fluffy, you say? Oh, pish posh. Fred and I have already seen him. Hagrid introduced us to him late last year after Harry was all brave and saved the day yet again from You-Know-Who and certain doom. Charming animal. A real lapdog.**

**See you tomorrow!**

**The ever incredible and delicious George Weasley**

_Dear Oliver,_

_You would get me a present related to Quidditch._

_See you tomorrow._

_Katie_


	14. Intervention

_I was just waaaaay too excited to write this. Not to mention, it's probably the easiest time I've ever had writing a chapter. You've had to wait long enough for the events in this chapter, but now the wait is over! Which reminds me of a scene in Goblet of Fire:_

_"You've waited, you've wondered, and now the moment's here. A moment only four of you can full appreciate. Miss Granger, what are you doing here?"_

_"Oh, sorry. I'll just...go."_

_I'm glad I got to show off my mad quoting skills (though I might have messed that one up. My forte is the first movie). Anyways, Chapter fourteen!!!!_

CHAPTER 14 - INTERVENTION

"GEORGE!" I yelled the moment I saw a patch of red hair amongst the lunch crowd in the Great Hall. He didn't hear me, but I ran full speed and launched myself at him in a bear hug. He gripped me just as tightly.

"Wrong twin, love," Fred's voice whispered in my ear. Blood flooded my cheeks.

"Oh, sorry," I mumbled as I sat down next to him at the Gryffindor table. Angelina kissed him on the cheek and sat on his other side while Alicia sat across from us.

"No worries," Fred replied, peering over my shoulder. "Besides, here comes the boy who stole my face now!" My face grew warmer as I turned around. And there he was in all his mischievous glory. I squished myself next to Fred and created as wide a space as possible next to me.

"Afternoon, ladies," George said with an incline of his head as he plopped down across from me next to Alicia. Oh... oh well.

"Hey, George," I greeted. Finally. My smile felt like it was too big for my face.

"Why hello, Katie," he replied with a returning smile. Then he faced Alicia and began asking her about her holiday. I tried my best to keep the jealousy from spreading to my face as I inconspicuously scooted away from Fred to fill the empty space next to me.

"And where am I supposed to sit?" a Scottish accent inquired from behind me. Of course.

I looked up and sure enough, the ever-pretentious Oliver Wood was there, smirking down at me.

"Glad to see me, Katie?" he said, smiling wider. I rolled my eyes but couldn't help grinning back. I moved aside again and Oliver sat down where I'd hoped George would've been. He was very close. Too close. Again. Why was he always so uncomfortably close to me? Was I some kind of Oliver Wood magnet?

"How was your break, Oliver?" I asked for the sake of making conversation. I would've asked George but he was still devouring Alicia's every word.

"It was pretty good. I got a new pair of keeper gloves for Christmas from my mum. My dad got me a Montrose Magpies poster signed by Hamish MacFarlan."

"But isn't he-"

"The Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports? Yep. _And_ former captain." His face grew smug as he rattled off the Quidditch facts. Pompous idiot.

"But how did you-"

"No idea, but I already hung it up next to my bed. Most prized possession? I think so."

"You're obsessed." I said as I stuffed a turkey sandwich in my mouth, effectively ending the conversation.

"Tell us something we don't know," George mused from across the table. Oliver shot him a glare. George's returning puppy pout was so adorable that I nearly choked on my food.

"Wood," Fred said, directing all of our attention to him, "we have your Christmas present upstairs. We forgot to send it to you."

Oliver glanced at me before he spoke. "Should I be afraid?"

"Heavens, no! Who do you think we are?" Fred replied with a hurt look. "Are you free after this?" Oliver nodded. "Okay, then we'll give it to you after dinner tonight."

"But you just said-"

"I know. I was just being obnoxious," Fred answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world. And it was.

We took our time eating since there were no classes to scurry off to and when we were done, we all headed up to Gryffindor tower together.

* * *

"Alright, Wood. No peeking," Fred said as he carefully walked down the boys' stairs with a flat box in his hands.

George pointed his wand at Oliver's face. "Or else," he said menacingly.

We were clumped around the fireplace in the toasty common room. Clusters of students were lounging about the room around us, exchanging stories from break.

Fred placed the box in Oliver's lap.

"Proceed," George said as he took his wand away from Oliver's face. Oliver opened his eyes and gingerly unwrapped the package. He removed the lid of the box and grimaced.

"Underwear?" he grumbled.

"Oh, Sir Captain, you must hold them up for everyone to see!" Fred instructed. Oliver's frown deepened before he obeyed; however, the moment he touched the bright red boxers, they went airborne and shot into the middle of the room in all their glory. Red and gold fireworks erupted around the garment and formed a dazzling "Merry Christmas, Oliver Wood!" in midair. The boxers slowly revolved around to model themselves to everyone, and emblazoned right on the butt was the phrase "Catch Me!" in shimmering gold with a Snitch underneath it. Oliver frantically got up from his place on the couch and ran to the incriminating underwear, where he helplessly began jumping up and down to try and retrieve them. On the fourth jump, his hand barely found purchase, and at the slightest touch, the boxers began zooming around the room. Panic-stricken, Oliver began chasing them.

Never, in all my life, had I laughed so hard; it was the greatest thing I'd ever seen.

Fred and George were downright hoarse with laughter.

"Best! Present! Ever!" Fred guffawed.

"You! Said! It!" George cheered as they high-fived.

Alicia had tears in her eyes and even the reserved Angelina Johnson was erupting in fits of giggles. Of course, so was every other Gryffindor.

After fifteen minutes of fruitless pursuit, Oliver finally managed to grab a hold of the underwear. He then promptly sped up the stairs to his dorm, where I was sure he would lock the gift in his trunk. Forever.

About a half an hour later, Oliver still hadn't come down. I could just picture him, sitting on his bed with his cheeks still rosy, curled up in the fetal position. Sure, I felt bad for him (I would _murder_ the twins if they ever did that to me), but Oliver deserved some kind of punishment for all the brutal early morning practices. I couldn't blame the twins for wanting revenge.

"Fred, George, you are geniuses. Bloody brilliant," I claimed as I placed myself in the spot between them that Oliver had left vacant.

"Tell us something we don't know," George said for the second time that day. I hit him on the arm. He smiled a gleaming smile. It was now or never, I decided. I took a mental deep breath and scooted closer to him on the couch. His smile faltered the slightest bit and his eyes grew cautious. I quickly averted my gaze the other direction, but soon regretted it: Fred was snogging Angelina, still high from his victory. Then, I safely turned to Alicia directly in front of me. She inclined her head toward them and then made a retching noise. I giggled and though I heard George do the same (even felt the rumble through his side), I kept my eyes on Alicia, who was looking at George. Suddenly, her brow creased, then she nodded, and headed up the boys' stairs, probably to check on Oliver.

Alone time. Though this was what I wanted, I doubted my courage the moment she left. My throat ran dry as I turned to face George.

His expression was far from what I was expecting. He gazed at me in earnest.

"Katie, we need to talk," he said quietly as he took my hand and led me over to the only empty part of the room.

_This is it! This was what I wanted! I can't believe it's happening_, I thought to myself as we sat down on the bench by the window that I frequented. My stomach wasn't as nearly as excited; it gurgled and grumbled and threatened to charge up my throat and out my mouth. I swallowed harshly to force it down.

"Look, Katie," George began quietly. "I know you like me." He was still holding my hand.

My stomach grew more desperate to escape.

"I could tell by your letters and just the way you've been acting. I've never become this close of friends with anyone so quickly before. Well, except Fred I guess, but that would be incest."

My stomach was behind my teeth, rattling them like a prisoner rattled the bars of his cell.

"But-"

And my stomach plummeted back down to where it belonged. Maybe even farther down than before.

"-I don't feel that way. Don't get me wrong, you're a great friend. Spectacular. And I love you, really I do. But... I like... I like Alicia."

"I know!" I quickly defended. "And you're wrong, I don't like you. I just really like you but not like that, only like a friend because you're one of my best friends - my _best_ friend - and I missed you over break because I didn't see you but otherwise I don't really care I was just bored and stupid, you know?"

Pain crawled across his features before he composed himself. "Right," he said. He dropped my hand.

"So yeah, I don't like you like that. Never have." I raised my head high and shrugged like my heart crumbling to pieces meant nothing.

I could tell George wasn't buying it; he peered at me for a few minutes like he was waiting for something to explode, but he said nothing. When he realized I had nothing else to say, he rose from the couch and said, "Okay."

I watched him head back over to the others where he sat as far as possible from Alicia (who had returned), but only talked to her, and though she was my friend, all I wanted to do was go and knock her out of the way.

Not that it would've done anything.

He didn't like me. I wasn't good enough for him. He wanted Alicia and he would never want me.

And I wanted him.

The room was still alive with tales from the holidays, but silence pressed down on me from my place by the window. I knew that George's eyes would be on me. If they weren't on Alicia. And that second option hurt more than the first. I stared out the window, like all the times before, stared at the treetops of the Forbidden Forest that swayed with the beating of my heart. I focused on the patterns they made against the sky: left, right, up, down, like a marching band pacing a field. I tried not to think of anything else.

I don't know when everyone went to bed, but when I finally found my mind drifting down unpleasant avenues, I looked around the room and found it empty. There was no light except for the flickering remains of a forgotten fire on the hearth. I realized I was cold, so close to the stone walls of the castle, but I stayed where I was at only looked longingly at the fire.

I jumped about a foot in the air when a voice at the foot of the stairs murmured, "Katie."

It was Oliver.

I figured at the late hour, he would be in his pajamas, but he was still wearing the same deep blue jumper from earlier. I didn't say anything as walked over to where I sat with his hands fumbling in the pockets of his khakis.

"Can we talk?" he said as his eyes combed the dark floor. I shuddered and whether it was because of the cold or the familiar phrase, I wasn't sure. "Come on," he said quietly. He slowly and carefully wrapped an arm around my shoulders and guided me toward the couch by the fireplace.

I didn't want him asking questions, so I came right out with it. "So you know what happened, then?"

His eyes connected with mine as he nodded, but then hastily turned to the fire. "Angelina and Alicia told me." Then it was my turn to nod.

"But they didn't need to tell me, Katie. I see the way you look at him. I know he's the reason you basically ignored all my letters." I began to protest, but he didn't let me. "I already could tell. Angelina and Alicia only convinced me to talk to you."

"You never fail to amaze me with your concern, Wood." I rolled my eyes and made to get up.

"No, Katie. The only reason I needed convincing was because I knew you wouldn't care about whatever I had to say." I sat back down and faced him.

"That's not true," I defended.

"Yes, it is," Oliver objected. "Katie, think of how many times we've been in this situation this year. How many times I've told you how I felt and how many times you've completely disregarded all I've said."

"Well I'm here now and I'm all ears."

He didn't answer right away, just kept shooting nervous glances between me and the fireplace. Finally, he spoke. "I like you, Katie. A lot. And even though I know you like George, that hasn't changed anything. I care about you and I shouldn't because you treat me like shit, but for some reason I like it. That's just how it is-"

"I don't treat you like shit -" I began to argue.

"GOD DAMNIT, KATIE! WOULD YOU JUST LISTEN TO ME!?" His anger streak flared as he clenched his hands into fists. The urge for me to retaliate was unbearable, but I knew this was the wrong time to push him further. I bit my tongue as hard as I could; the salt of blood trickled around in my mouth. I waited for him to calm down but he didn't. He was practically shaking with anger. Anger at _me_, anger that _I_ caused. Guilt seized me in a chokehold and before I was able to register what was happening, I was crying.

His hands were on me then, awkwardly patting my shoulders and head.

"Oh, Katie. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you. I'm sorry." He repeated the apology over and over.

"It's not you," I blubbered. "I'm such an idiot. I always make everything worse. You wouldn't have yelled if it hadn't been for me being stupid and getting you mad. I'm such a hypocrite and - and-" Words failed me. I just started sobbing uncontrollably, which left a very mystified and uncomfortable Oliver. He didn't say anything, and instead just clumsily wrapped his arms around me and pulled me to his chest.

I cried and cried until I couldn't remember what I was crying about. Part of me worried Oliver had fallen asleep. I pulled away from him to check.

He was wide awake, though it must have been two in the morning, and he gazed back at me with caring eyes.

"I'm sorry, Oliver," I whispered. He leaned in towards me and rested his forehead against mine.

"You have nothing to be sorry for," he breathed. I closed my eyes in contentment. Then his lips were on mine.

The kiss was slow, careful, like he expected me to run screaming out the portrait hole. A very small part of me wondered why I wasn't doing just that. But the rest of me was absorbed by Oliver's lips gently moving against mine, because this was what I wanted.

What I _wanted._

I enclosed my arms around his neck and pulled him closer, but he didn't deepen the kiss, and I didn't want him to. Everything was perfect as it was. Just him, just me, it was natural, like breathing. My head almost started spinning from everything that had happened that night, but just before I was overwhelmed, he pulled away. He rested his forehead against mine once more. All I could hear was his slightly ragged breathing.

I tried not to think of the ramifications and instead focused on the smell of his skin and how close he was yet again.

Maybe it was meant to be.

I'm not talking like cheesy soul mates or anything, but maybe this was fate's way of telling me that I should give Oliver Wood a chance. Merlin knows how stubborn I am. I needed a good intervention.

"It's a wonder no one's woken up yet," Oliver whispered. I breathed a laugh.

"Especially with your noisy self," I mocked.

"You were rather loud yourself, if I'm not mistaken."

"Touché." Content silence again.

"Can I ask you something?" Oliver questioned.

"Go ahead."

"You didn't get me anything for Christmas." I could hear the frown in his voice.

"That's not a question," I said.

"I know." Still slightly disheartened.

I deliberated for a moment. It was true. In all my haste to find the perfect present for George, I'd completely forgotten about Oliver. But I knew just what to give him now. I took a shaky breath and then lightly kissed him.

"Merry Christmas," I spoke softly against his lips.

"Merry Christmas, Katie," he said before doing the same.

_FINALLY! Believe me, I'm just as excited as you are that Katie's finally being sensible. But how will things work out? Was this just another mistake of a kiss? Is Katie going to freak out again? Is Oliver going to have another fit? Or are they going to start dating and live happily ever after?_

_You'll just have to wait for Chapter 15 and find out._

_But in the meantime, bask in the bliss that is Chapter 14. I told you you'd like it :)_


	15. Victory

_Terribly sorry for the long wait. Spring break took place at the beginning of March and prior to leaving for home, I had to find a way to successfully write a six page paper on celery (which is now consequently my least favorite vegetable). Break ended 2 weekends ago, but this past weekend was a Harry Potter weekend on ABC Family, which meant every hour of my day was occupied haha. But now, here I am, finally updating now that I have the time. I do hope the suspense was killing you though_ :)

CHAPTER 15 - VICTORY

When I woke the next morning, the sun was streaming into the room from an odd angle. The beds around me were empty, so - worried that I had missed breakfast - I wrenched my watch off the bedside table to look at the time.

It was three in the afternoon.

I was grateful it was Sunday and I therefore had not missed any classes, but my stomach gurgled in protest: I had missed not only breakfast, but also lunch. Dinner wasn't for at least another two hours, so I groggily got out of bed and dressed. Finally in my favorite white jumper and an old pair of jeans, my stomach growled again and I cursed McGonagall, though it wasn't exactly her fault food was one of the Principal Exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration.

Struggling with all my might, I attempted to finish the second of my Potions essays because like any sane Gryffindor (barring Hermione Granger), I had put it off until the last day of break. But my stomach was determined to undermine my concentration.

All right, you caught me. My stomach, though ravenous, had little to do with my inability to concentrate. Truth be told, Oliver Wood was the primary cause of my distraction. Oliver Wood was the reason I decided to stay holed up in my dormitory on a beautiful, albeit cold, January morning...er...late afternoon.

Not only had we stayed awake just talking until about three in the morning the previous night, but sleep evaded me for another hour afterwards; my mind just kept replaying the kiss over and over again. And now that the immediate effect had worn off (unlike my idiotic grin), all I could think about was what I was going to say to him. What was I _supposed_ to say to him? How do you justify kissing someone you swore you didn't like several times over? How do you account for _wanting_ to kiss that someone when you had had feelings for an entirely different person only hours before?

The Potions essay was starting to seem like a piece of treacle tart. But I knew that a sticky conversation with Oliver was something I could not avoid forever, no matter how comfortable my bed was.

My irrational side said to lie and save yourself from a sure world of heartbreak, while my rational side told me to be honest and tell him that I not only liked the kiss, but also him. My rational side was being completely irrational, in my opinion.

If I told him I liked him, I knew what would follow. We would start dating and become one of those vomit-inducing couples that pollute the halls of Hogwarts with the sweet nothings they exchange and the spit they swap. Oliver would become perpetually googly-eyed and never be able to block another Quaffle to save his life (out of self-respect, I'd pitch myself off the Astronomy Tower before the same happened to me). We would start missing homework, class, and losing sleep because we would sneak off to deserted corridors and have make-out sessions so nauseating that passerby would be scarred for life. Then we would lose a Quidditch match and Oliver would yell himself hoarse at me, then I would yell at him and we'd either break up and never speak to each other again or the whole cycle would repeat itself the next day. It was clearly a lose-lose situation. Being a Quidditch player, the word "lose" was certainly one I preferred _not_ to include in my vocabulary. Even more so, Oliver never even _thought_ the "L-word."

But what if I gave in? What if, for once in my life, I just played nice?

Merlin knows my life would be a lot less complicated without Oliver Wood launching himself at me every chance he got. Then again, maybe that didn't sound so bad after all. No one - female or male - could deny that Oliver Wood certainly was attractive, from his jungle of permanently windblown hair to his two left feet that magically disappeared the moment he mounted a broom. But it was the gleam in his eyes at the mention of Quidditch that got me. Just the fact that he could have so much dedication and love for something was enough to send me into a tizzy of daydreams. But his well-toned back and accent definitely didn't hurt-

"Katie?"

It took me a second to realize that Angelina was obstructing my staring contest with the door.

"Wha-um... hey, Ange." I tried my best to pull of nonchalance, which of course meant she saw right through me.

"How long have you been up?" she asked with raised eyebrows.

"Oh...about an hour. I was finishing..." My eyes finally noticed the heaping tray of food in her hands.

I had never moved so fast in my life. Not even the time Fred had accidentally _Incendio_'ed my butt. Or at least, he had said it was an accident.

"...You're welcome," Angelina said with an amused expression when I had already shoved an entire turkey sandwich in my mouth.

"Ank oo," was all my overstuffed mouth could manage. I was beginning to feel like a Weasley twin. Soon enough, it was impossible to chew so vigorously and stand on two feet at the same time, so I sank back onto my bed, Angelina following suit with the now nearly empty tray in her hands. She placed it on the nightstand.

I was halfway through a hearty helping of mashed potatoes when she opened the floodgates.

"I know something happened. You need to talk to Oliver."

I pretended not to hear her and instead chewed much louder than necessary.

"Katie..." she warned. Another mouthful of mashed potatoes.

"Katie, what happened!?" she finally burst out.

"Why do you need to know?" I shot back, spewing bits of potato on my sheets.

"I don't. Sorry," she said feebly. "But Oliver has a right to know and I'm just trying to help you _and_ him."

I folded my arms and put on the best pout I could muster, intent on saying nothing.

"Would you rather Alicia came up here to hound you for answers?" Angelina asked with a knowing expression.

I couldn't deny she was right. The only thing worse than talking to Oliver at this point would be talking to Alicia and the smug grin that she would surely be wearing.

"Oliver's been sitting in the common room all morning waiting for you. He's only left for breakfast and lunch. Actually, come to think of it, he wasn't at breakfast..." Her eyes wandered to the ceiling in contemplation. "Obviously, something big happened. He's a nervous wreck down there and both Alicia and I know you're the cause of it."

"You don't know anything."

Angelina rolled her eyes. "Oh please, Katie. Have you forgotten who talked Oliver into talking to you...last...night..." she trailed off in thought, then, "AHA! That's what it is, isn't it? You stayed up all night! That's why neither of you were at breakfast!"

I could feel the color rising in my cheeks, but I remained adamant. "No we didn't. We just..." I didn't know what to say.

"Katie, look," she said, serious now. "You can't stay up here forever. Sooner or later you're going to have to face him. If you tell me what happened, I might be able to help." Something in her warm brown eyes finally got to me.

I sighed before I said, "Well, it all started when George told me he didn't like me-" Her eyes widened. "Oh, I guess you didn't know about that."

She shook her head. "It all makes sense now though. Alicia had mentioned something about you and George to him and how he needed to talk to you because of that. I had no idea what she was going on about. I figured it was just the usual rubbish."

"Yeah, well, she wasn't mental this time. Anyways, he told me he didn't like me and I...stayed up after everyone went to bed and then Oliver came down to talk..."

"And...?"

I shuffled my feet and examined the stitching in my sheets closer than I ever have before. "...We talked. That's what you and Alicia told him to do."

"What did you talk about?"

"We fought about each other."

"So what else is new," she giggled under her breath. "You two fight all the time so something else happened that you're not telling me about."

I sighed again. This was a battle I would not be able to win. "Well, we sort of kissed."

Her reaction was nothing like I expected: in fact, she showed no surprise at all. "Let me guess. This kiss was like something out of those Muggle movies you watch. All sappy and perfect, and then you, being your little evasive self, just ran off, leaving poor Oliver to wonder."

"I did not! It was a mutual decision!" Angelina put an arm around my shoulder, but ignored my words.

"You can yell at him for hours about Quidditch and never once feel the least bit intimidated, even though he's two years _older_ than you, yet one tiny mention of feelings and you lock yourself up here." She gestured to our dormitory.

"I'm not a coward!"

"Then prove it," she dared with sinister smirk on her face. She crossed her arms tightly, for she knew she'd hit a tender spot.

"I-you-but-" There was nothing I could say.

"Katherine Elizabeth Bell, you are going to march down those stairs and tell Oliver _exactly_ how you feel." She jabbed her finger at the door.

"But I don't want to," I grumbled like a five-year-old being forced to eat broccoli. She glared at me for a long moment before a serene, but slightly wicked smile crossed her face.

"Fine. Suit yourself." She rose to her feet and headed for the door, but turned towards me before opening it. "Do whatever you want. Just know that it's much more fun once the boy knows how you feel. Trust me, I would know." She winked. "And honey, Oliver likes you a hell of a lot." Then she swept out of the room and closed the door behind her.

I half-expected Angelina to come back and give me more advice or maybe scold me some more, but she didn't. All I had left were her final words that were bouncing around in my head.

_Much more fun._

Maybe I was wrong. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing to be one of those disgusting couples, to be like Angelina and Fred.

Without warning, a vision of Oliver filled my mind: his arms were wound tightly around me, like I would fall apart if he let go. His breathing was ragged, rivaled only by my own desperate gasps for air, as he kissed my neck, my shoulders, my lips. My fingers were braided in his hair as he huskily whispered, "I love you."

Before long, my breathing became as labored as the imaginary me.

* * *

The common room was overflowing with students too cold to leave the comfort of the fireplace yet too caught up in each other to notice me as I tiptoed down the stairs.

Just like Angelina had said, Oliver was sitting on the couch in front of the fire, oblivious to everything but the book in his hands. I walked slowly up behind him and peered over his shoulder. _Quidditch Through the Ages._ I should have known.

I wandered around the side of the couch and sat down next to him in the same spot I'd occupied the night before. Immediately, like he had some kind of Katie-Bell radar (he probably did by now), he put the book down. But he didn't look at me.

"I have something to say," I began.

He ran a hand through his already disheveled hair before he swallowed harshly. "Me too. Katie, I'm sor-"

"I like you, Oliver."

He whipped around to face me, his hair-mussing hand still raised in midair. I couldn't help but laugh at his eyes bulging out of his head. He sort of looked like he'd been hit by a Bludger.

"Did you hear me, Oliver?" Why not have more fun with this? "Oliver, I said I-"

"Shut up," he demanded before he gathered me in his arms and kissed me with so much force that I nearly fell off the couch.

It took me a few moments to register the whoops and hollers that were emitting from the other students, even the portraits. Finally, after what felt like days, but really must have been only a few seconds, Oliver pulled back. The smile on his face was the one he usually only reserved for when Gryffindor won a Quidditch match.

"You don't know how long I've wanted to hear you say that," he said with an almost manic look on his face.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but hasn't it been slightly less than three months?"

"You think you know everything," he said as he held me closer.

"Because I do," I said matter-of-factly. "So...do you want to be my boyfriend?" I tried to ignore all the stares from around the room as I waited for an answer. After his earlier attack, I was surprised by Oliver's pause.

"That depends..." he trailed off as he raised a hand to stroke his chin. "Do _you_ want to be my girlfriend?"

A chant of "DO IT, DO IT, DO IT" erupted around the room. I looked around, zeroed in on the self-satisfied faces of Angelina and Alica, then the shocked faces of Fred and George.

"Shut up," I told them all, before I pounced on Oliver. "Yes," I said so only he could hear.

He didn't say anything, only kissed me with more enthusiasm, as the Gryffindor common room exploded into cheers and I heard Alicia exasperatedly exclaim, "Finally!"

* * *

_And now, fifteen chapters of stubborn Katie later, Oliver and Katie are finally together. Did you like it? Was it worth the wait?_


	16. Rumors

_A/N: I don't know how often I'll be updating since school is almost over. Just four weeks left! But I have finals coming up with papers galore. I'll try my best to write though :)_

_This chapter is dedicated to the reviewers of Chapter 15: kraney and Kylie. Especially kraney. I've decided you're my first official friend (although you might have already guessed that)!_

_I'm so glad you guys like the story enough to take those few extra seconds to review. It means SO MUCH to me and makes updating worth it. So, as a treat (that isn't really a treat since I'm not like a famous author or anything) here are some songs on my playlist for this story that inspire me to write:_

_Gravity - Sara Bareilles_

_Everywhere - Michelle Branch_

_Somewhere Out There - Our Lady Peace_

_Open Your Eyes - Snow Patrol_

_Breathing - Lifehouse_

_Since U Been Gone - Kelly Clarkson_

_Lately - Samantha Mumba_

_Only a few of those songs actually relate to this story. Most of them relate to the sequel which will take place in Prisoner of Azkaban. Maybe you can guess what's going to happen by listening to the songs! I already have the entire story planned out. But for now, read Chapter 16!!!_

_Disclaimer: I ain't no Harry-Potter-wrtiing-genius. Kelly::J.K. Rowling, Filch::Dumbledore_

CHAPTER 16 - RUMORS

When I woke up on Monday morning (earlier than my dorm mates, as usual), half of me didn't want move a single centimeter from the comfort and safety of my bed. Unfortunately, the other half of me wanted to hurl myself down the stairs into the waiting arms of Oliver Wood. And let me tell you, trying to ignore the gravitational pull of Oliver Wood would be like Snape awarding points to Gryffindor or Trelawney making a legitimate prediction: impossible. But it was mortifying enough to have the whole of Gryffindor House in on my personal life. Now, I had to face the whole school. A Bludger to the face sounded more appealing. Or maybe detention with Snape.

...No, nothing would ever be worth _that_ torture.

So, it was with a slightly queasy stomach that I got out of bed and ready for the first day of classes. Never one to spend hours primping and gussying up at the mirror, I was fully dressed and prepared within fifteen minutes, though I did place several anti-fly-away and shine charms on my hair. Hey, if I was going to have to face the wrath of the Slytherin Quidditch team along with the rest of Hogwarts, I might as well look good doing it. One less reason for them to mock me, one less reason for me to punch someone in the face.

The remaining girls, Angelina and Alicia included, were still snoring away as I grabbed my bag and slowly took a deep breath.

_If I have to face the school, at least I don't have to do it alone_, I thought to myself as I opened the door.

My legs were shaking slightly as I descended the spiral staircase. My bag seemed heavier than usual, though it was nothing compared to my nerves. Three steps from the bottom, I toppled over. My books sailed through the air and I heard a sharp "Ouch!" before my chin hit the floor. I looked up.

Oliver was standing over me, massaging his right arm which had just been attacked by my copy of _Standard Book of Spells_, Grade 4.

"If you were trying to catch me, you missed," I said with a smirk as I pushed myself up off the ground.

"I - I wasn't. I was... I was..."

"Oh, come on, Oliver. I thought keepers were supposed to have quick reflexes?" I teased as I stroked a finger under his chin.

His hand flashed up and grabbed my wrist before he spun me around so he was behind me. The quickness of it all took my breath away, and this did not go unnoticed.

"You were saying?" he purred in my ear. If my legs hadn't felt like pudding moments before, they certainly did now.

"Alright, fine," I said as I regained composure. "I take it back."

"Good," he said with a smile. The second his arms let go of me, I lightly elbowed him in the stomach and he doubled over.

"Chasers have good reflexes, too," I taunted as I danced out of his reach. But he didn't try to counter my attack; he remained hunched over.

"Oliver?" He didn't respond, so I inched closer, worried that I had caused more damage than intended. I bent over to better see his face, when his hands shot out to grab me.

I karate-chopped and blocked his attempts before encircling my arms around his waist. "I win," I declared as I peered up at him.

"Good morning to you, too," he said with a roll of his eyes before he wrapped his arms around me. I stretched up on my tiptoes to kiss him good morning when-

"Ahem."

We both froze an inch from each other's lips and glanced around the seemingly empty common room to find the source of the noise. Neither of us were surprised to see Percy Weasley wedged in an armchair with a book in his hands.

"No public displays of affection," he ordered as he glowered at us from over the top of his book.

I rolled my eyes and backed away from Oliver to take his hand instead.

"Sod off, Percy," Oliver grumbled as he took me back in his arms and kissed me with much more enthusiasm than any one person should have in the morning. Then he took me by the hand and led me towards the portrait hole.

"_I _am a Hogwarts prefect and I _demand_ that you listen to me at once. Public displays of affection are strictly prohibited-"

"Just because you don't have a girlfriend?" Oliver goaded. I stifled a giggle.

Percy's cheeks burned scarlet and he hastily returned to reading his book as Oliver led me out of the portrait hole to breakfast.

There were only about twenty other students in the Great Hall when we arrived, meaning that almost the entire Gryffindor table was empty. Being it was so early, the house tables were not overflowing with mounds of food; instead, colorful splashes of fruit and platters with eggs, toast, and sausage were placed every few feet down the table.

The only other Gryffindor at the table was a seventh year I never knew the name of. Seated next to him (too close to eat comfortably, if you ask me) was his Hufflepuff girlfriend. Even from where Oliver and I sat at the far end of the table, I could see how they sickeningly gazed lovingly into each other's eyes, like their lives depended on it, like the other's face was all they wanted to or could see. In fact, they didn't even break eye contact to eat, and it was with disgust that I watched the girl miss her mouth for the fourth time as she gaped at her lover. I choked on my eggs.

"Something wrong?" Oliver asked as he clapped me on the back.

I looked back at the couple and he followed my line of sight.

"It's revolting," I said around another mouthful of eggs which I chewed with caution: the couple had just started feeding each other.

Oliver cleared his throat before answering, "Yeah, it is."

I turned back around to face him when something sharp jabbed me in the nose.

"OUCH!" I yelped. "What'd you do that for?" I frantically patted my nose to see if it was bleeding, but there seemed to be no damage. Once I was done inspecting, I looked up and saw Oliver holding a fork level with my face - a small clump of eggs lay splattered on the bench.

"You're kidding me, right?" I pleaded. Oliver guiltily cleaned up the mess and turned away from me with bright red ears.

"She's got a point, you know," chimed in Fred as he walked up and plopped down across from Oliver. "Spoon feeding? Come on, Wood. Where has your masculinity gone?"

"Apparently right out the window with his dignity," added George as he sat down next to his twin. He threw me a pleasant smile before he began piling his plate.

Oliver stayed silent as the rest of the school poured in through the doors of the Great Hall. As usual, Angelina wandered in when everybody else was already halfway done with their meals.

"Have you guys seen Hermione Granger?" she asked as she placed herself next to Fred who kissed her on the cheek.

We all looked down the table to where Harry and Ron sat by themselves and shook our heads (both Weasleys sent bits of food airborne as they did so). Then George asked, "Why?"

"Well, she's missing, and aren't Ron and Harry best friends with her?" Angelina said with a face that was growing more somber by the minute. She glanced back at Harry and Ron and the vacated seat that usually belonged to the bushy-haired girl.

Both twins nodded.

"And isn't she a.... a," she gulped, "... a Muggle-born?"

No one nodded this time, though George's jaw dropped slightly and Fred let out a small gasp. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Oliver's face whiten.

In the time spent safely with my family and all the mess with George and Oliver, I had completely forgotten about the Chamber of Secrets. It had become sort of a nightmare, one that I only remembered in the deepest sleep, and now, that nightmare was very, terrifyingly real, and nothing or no one - Oliver included - could protect me from this paralyzing reality.

"You...you don't think she was....attacked," I muttered, "do you?"

Angelina simply looked at me with worried eyes, and suddenly, she looked years younger, her usual motherly expression replaced by fear.

Oliver finally spoke up. "How long has she been gone?" he asked with such sudden intensity that the rest of us jumped at his voice.

"I don't know," Angelina answered in a voice that kept growing smaller.

"Now that you mention it," George said, looking at his twin then the rest of us, "we haven't see her since Christmas...."

And I knew they were right. The night George had turned me down, Harry and Ron were sitting very near to the window seat I occupied. And they were quite alone.

"Have you heard anything else?" Oliver asked, his voice still severe.

Angelina shook her head gravely. Then Alicia came sprinting down the aisle between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables. She looked frazzled: her bag was swinging precariously on her shoulder and her hair looked only half-brushed. She lunged at a platter containing biscuits but before she could grab one, the bell rang and they disappeared into thin air.

"Damn it!" she cried as she stomped her foot on the ground.

The entire hall rose at once and headed for the exit. Angelina went to Alicia's side, probably to inform her about Hermione Granger. Fred floated after them and George followed his twin.

I stood up slowly, the thought of Slytherin's monster weighing down my shoulders as I hazily filed into line behind the others. Then someone forcefully grabbed my hand and pulled me back.

"Katie..." Oliver moaned. His face was still bone-white. He stared at me with anguished eyes.

"I know." I said. My eyes felt too dry, but it was too painful to blink now. "Hermione... but she's so... she's so smart...."

If Hermione Know-It-All Granger couldn't escape the Heir of Slytherin, none of the Muggle-borns would stand a chance. Suddenly, my legs felt just like they had before I fell down the stairs, only this time, it was for a much more sinister reason. Oliver pulled me close and wrapped his arms so tight around me that it was hard for me to breathe. His arms were the only things that stopped me from crumbling to pieces then. I would not cry, but I couldn't help the dry sobs that escaped.

"It's okay, it's okay," he whispered as he massaged my side with one of his hands. "You're going to get through this. _We're_ going to get through this."

He leaned away to better see my face. I nodded, though his words calmed no part of the fear that was raging in my chest. He took my hand and we departed for our respective classes.

* * *

At the beginning of class, Lockhart had told us that we would be learning about Augureys, but the entire class ended up revolving around how he had done his hair that day. Alicia, along with 95% of the girls in the room, didn't seem to mind.

"So what are you going to do?" Angelina asked from next to me. She didn't even bother to keep her voice low; Lockhart was far too into his soliloquy to pay our small side conversation any mind.

Though her question wasn't specific, I knew what she was referring to. "I don't know," I mumbled.

"Well, there's got to be something you can do!" she said, her voice raising. Lockhart was still oblivious.

"What am I supposed to do? Carry around a sword so I can just slay the monster the moment it attacks me?"

Angelina screwed up her expression then said, "But you have a wand!"

"And a lot of good that's done the other Muggle-borns," I said with grim sarcasm. Just like so many times before, my fear was being channeled into anger. I knew Angelina didn't deserve my fury, but at the same time, I couldn't help it.

She looked lost for words for a moment. "_But you're not just any Muggle-born! You're Katie Bell!_" she full out yelled.

Lockhart stopped talking and the eyes of the entire class zeroed in on me as the room went silent.

"And now the whole school knows..." I whispered to her as I mirrored the blank stares of the others.

An entire minute passed in which nothing was said before Lockhart exclaimed, "Well, that's enough for today! Don't forget to read chapter 7 of _Travels with Trolls_ and make sure you pick up a bottle of Golden Phoenix Hydrating Shampoo and matching conditioner!" The class sat for another moment in silence before flooding out the door and bursting with questions.

"Is it true?"

"You're a Muggle-born?"

"Blimey, I had no idea!"

Alicia and Angelina stayed huddled by my side and kept trying to shoulder off the eavesdroppers. "Katie, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry!" Angelina kept whimpering. "I forgot no one else knew!"

"It's okay," I lied. Because everything certainly was _not_ bloody well okay. I had been counting on the fact that no one knew I was a Muggle-born; it was my last defense. Those who had been attacked were known Muggle-borns, not like me. But now I was one of them, and I felt more exposed and vulnerable than ever. By lunch, the entire school would know.

"Angelina! Alicia! Katie!" came the shout of one of the twins. As a redhead bobbed through the crowd, we recognized it to be Fred.

"Why weren't you in class?" Angelina reprimanded him as he drew closer. All fourth year Gryffindors had Defense Against the Dark Arts with the Slytherins. Why was it that Gryffindor always had to have class with Slytherin?

"We've just been to see Ron," he said as he shoved his way next to her. Then, almost like he had Apparated, George popped up next to Alicia.

"And he said that Hermione is in the hospital wing, but she wasn't attacked," he said rather breathless. "We tried to sneak a peek, but Pomfrey kicked us out."

They all looked at me like they expected me to heave a huge sigh of relief.

"Thank Merlin," I said half-heartedly.

"So there's nothing to worry about!" George said as he patted me on the back with a huge smile.

Angelina looked towards him guiltily. "I kind of accidentally told our whole DADA class that Katie is Muggle-born. You would've known if you'd been-"

"You're Muggle-born?" Fred said with huge eyes.

I had never told them. With Angelina, Alicia, and Oliver knowing, it had never crossed my mind that I hadn't clued them in.

Angelina looked back at me, ready to continue her flood of apologies, but I waved a hand at her. "They would've found out sooner or later."

Lunchtime rolled around and sure enough, the Great Hall seemed noisier, edgier than usual. As I paced down the aisle with Angelina and Alicia (the twins had wandered back off to the Hospital Wing in an attempt to glimpse Hermione), whispers of "Granger must have been attacked!" and "Bell is a Muggle-born!" spread like fiendfyre up and down the House tables. It might have just been my paranoia, but every student seemed to follow me out of the corners of their eyes as I sat down at the usual spot at the Gryffindor table. I put on my Quidditch face and acted like I didn't care. Now that the initial shock had blown over (though the fear had not ebbed), I was beginning to feel annoyed and angry. Didn't a school of _magic_ have better things to talk about?

The hall was already crowded when Fred, George, and Oliver - now back to his normal complexion - strolled in and joined us.

"Well," announced Fred, "Pomfrey kicked us out again-"

"-But right before she put up curtains around Hermione's bed," continued George, "we saw fur."

After a moment of puzzled silence, we all broke into fits of laughter - Oliver included. The twins had told him about Hermione before the rest of us and his nerves from earlier seemed to be under control. Once we quieted down, Angelina turned to Fred, George turned to Alicia, and Oliver turned to me. His face was serious, but nowhere near the dire expression he wore that morning.

"Katie, I-I heard people in the halls. They were talking about you."

I nodded. As much as I wanted to save him from worry, this was something I couldn't hide. Not with the whole school abuzz about it.

"So, what... you just told people you're a Muggle-born?" I put forth my best effort at nonchalance and his tone grew less stern.

My eyes flickered to Angelina, who was deep in discussion with Fred about the risks of skipping class. "Well, Angelina kind of let it slip. And you know how safe a secret is in Hogwarts." I forced a laugh.

His eyes roamed my face, thoroughly perplexed, before he laughed softly too. "Yeah, I guess so. You'd have to be a real tosser to think you could keep a secret here."

"Exactly," I said with a smile.

"So you're okay with it?" His eyes scorched into mine.

"Yes. It's something I needed to get off my chest." I prayed to Merlin he wouldn't see through my lie.

He scrutinized me for a moment longer before turning to the rest of the group with a familiar determined expression and enthusiastically exclaiming, "Well! Now that we know Muggle-borns aren't dropping left and right, I say we get back to daily Quidditch practice! We've got a match coming up against Hufflepuff and we need to be prepared!"

Fred, George, Angelina, and Alicia all froze mid-sentence.

"_Daily practices_? But Oliver," Alicia protested, "that match is two months away still!"

"Exactly! Which is why we need to start training hard now! I know Hufflepuff; they won't start really training until the month of the match." The Quidditch gleam in his eyes was growing brighter with every word he spoke; now that I was his girlfriend and we knew Hermione hadn't been attacked, Oliver was back to his old obsessed self.

"You're mental," Fred said. He rolled his eyes, but the ever-determined Oliver babbled on, and it took all my willpower now to snog him right then and there because of it.

_A/n: I meant for this to be longer, but I couldn't think of any other stopping point. However, this means that you'll be getting at least one other warm and fuzzy chapter of Oliver and Katie. Warning: it will involve Valentine's Day. Oh, and here's a little extra something: I had originally ended this chapter differently, with the twins instead of Oliver and Katie, but I had to add some stuff into the end and then the whole conclusion just changed direction! So, as much as I liked my original ending, I had to cut it out because it wouldn't fit in the new version. But, I figured I could at least put it in the end Author's note, so here it is:_

* * *

The remainder of lunch was spent speculating what had caused Hermione to sprout fur; each suggestion was more far-fetched than the next.

"Maybe she drank Polyjuice Potion!" Angelina proposed. "I think I remember Snape mentioning that it shouldn't be used with-"

"No one cares what Snape has to say," Fred said before he offered his theory that Hermione had eaten Mrs. Norris and - due to the fact that Mrs. Norris was Petrified - had sprouted fur.

"It was just an idea," Angelina mumbled as she looked down at her plate. Fred put an arm around her shoulders.

"And a brilliant one at that, love," Fred said as he pulled her into his side. "But honestly, no one cares to hear what Snape has to say."

"Except maybe Filch," George suggested.

"What does Flich have to do with anything?" Angelina asked from around Fred.

"Oh, nothing really," George said with raised eyebrows. "I just think he's in need of a good pranking."

"I like how you think," Fred said in agreement.

Without further explanation, the twins rose from their seats and headed out of the Hall.

* * *

_Everyone could use a little more Fred and George in their lives, right? Hope you liked both endings and the whole story in between! Review if you'd like!_


	17. Valentine's Day

**This might be the last one for a little bit as I finished my freshman year of college today which means I'm off to summer! But I promise to update once a month AT THE LEAST. You'll just have to give me time to properly take advantage of my time home. Sorry for the rather long wait. I had finals and papers and portfolios galore, but it wouldn't feel right leaving this college without updating one more time. After all, this story is what kept me sane a majority of the school year. So here it is, chapter seventeen :)**

**Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling is a genius. Me? I'm just creative.**

**CHAPTER 17 - VALENTINE'S DAY**

With the lack of attacks on Muggleborns and a Quidditch match looming on the horizon, Oliver was back to his normal self. Well, as normal as Oliver Wood could ever be.

Oliver hadn't been kidding about the daily Quidditch practice thing. Ever since the day the whole school had found out about my parentage, we'd had practice every night. On top of that, Hogwarts had experienced one of the harshest winters I'd ever seen: more often than not, we were flying in blizzard conditions. Alicia was now threatening to quit on a daily basis and Fred and George were hitting the Bludgers with much more force than necessary. I wanted to beat Oliver over the head (though that was nothing new) and even the ever devoted Angelina Johnson had _cussed_ _out_ Oliver. But he remained adamant, and anytime any of us gave him grief, he would simply declare, "if we can fly in this then we can fly in anything!"

Only Harry followed Oliver's orders without any protest; however, conversely, Oliver only pushed him harder. Though Harry did not complain, we all could see the annoyance in his eyes whenever Oliver would correct another one of Harry's imaginary flaws.

But, as dreaded as Quidditch practice was, I couldn't deny that the intense practices were helping: Hufflepuff wouldn't stand a chance.

"Angelina, that was spectacular!" Oliver cheered after Angelina had landed a pass I'd shot her from almost halfway across the pitch.

Alicia and I zigzagged between the twins, who were hurling Bludgers left and right, and shot towards Angelina. I zoomed past Angelina while Alicia circled around her, seemingly waiting for a pass. Then, Angelina tossed the Quaffle backwards, where I was waiting, ready to head straight for the goal posts.

The cold February air faded into the background as I launched myself down the pitch towards a waiting Oliver. As I grew closer, he narrowed his eyes and smirked at me. I smirked back as wickedly as I could.

I tilted my broom towards the left; he followed.

I aimed for the right; he moved as well.

I was getting closer and I knew getting the Quaffle past Oliver Wood was a difficult, if not impossible, feat: he was one of the best keepers Hogwarts had ever seen.

The smirk left my face and was replaced by concentration. I gritted my teeth as I closed in on him, still grinning at me like I had no chance of scoring. Then he laughed.

Oh, _that did it._

I pushed my broom faster, ready to aim for the goal. He laughed again.

I hurled the Quaffle towards Alicia who was waiting by the right goal post.

Oliver stopped smirking as he whipped his head around and zeroed in on Alicia a second after she'd caught the ball; a second too late for him to do anything as she tossed the Quaffle back to me and I launched it through the goal post on the left.

He swore loudly to himself but then exclaimed in the proudest tone, "Brilliant!"

Alicia and I high-fived.

"As much as I _hate_ letting the Quaffle get past me, that was excellent. Superb. Completely fantastic teamwork!" His triumphant smile was almost too big for his face. "Practice over!"

"Oh, how thoughtful of you, Oliver!" George gushed as we all flew towards the ground.

"Yes, absolutely smashing!" Fred added when he touched down. "It's not like it's half past nine or anything!"

"_Half past nine?_" Angelina shrieked. "But curfew is nine!"

"Stop worrying, Johnson. McGonagall will understand," Oliver said confidently as he threw his broom over his shoulder and strutted to the locker rooms.

But of course McGonagall didn't understand. And Oliver didn't understand her anger, so - after a rather passionate argument involving the words "morale," "honor," "legacy," and "detention," he trudged up to Gryffindor Tower while the rest of us got off detention-free.

Oliver's detention was set for eight o'clock the next day, which just happened to be Valentine's day.

"Oo know, oo eally should hab thod ahead before oo schedood these ridicuoous pradices," George mentioned at breakfast around a mouth full of toast.

Oliver glared at him.

"Yeah, oo eally gonna miss out ooday," Fred continued as he nudged Oliver in the ribs and then looked pointedly at me.

I stared, bemused.

"And what's that look supposed to mean?" I asked.

Fred pointed his fork at me. "It means he's been whomping his willow thinking about you."

Oliver's fist connected with Fred's jaw so fast that I heard the crunch before I realized what had happened.

"What the bloody hell was that for?" I yelled in alarm. I leaned across the table to get a better look at Fred, whose jaw was quickly sprouting a gruesome bruise.

"Nothing," Oliver responded hurriedly as a violent blush colored his cheeks.

Angelina took Fred's face in her hands and began obsessing over the injury. Fred appeared more than fine and, in fact, laughed.

George also seemed to be bursting at the seams. Alicia, next to him, kept rolling her eyes.

Oliver stared at me for a moment before he turned to Fred and apologized quietly. Fred merely laughed even more raucously.

"So, we've got until eight o'clock with Wood. What should we do today?" Alicia inquired.

"I don't care what we do," I said, "but I need to get as far away from this room as possible."

The Great Hall had been ostentatiously decorated with large pink flowers and heart-shaped confetti was glittering down from the ceiling. Lockhart was sitting up at the High Table in vivid pink robes with a just as vivid smile on his face. Our entire meal was spent wiping confetti of our bacon, eggs, and toast.

There was a moments silence before Oliver suggested, "We could play a wee game of Quid-"

"NO!" shouted Alicia, George, and even the injured Fred in unison before Oliver could finish his sentence. I giggled.

"How about we have a snowball fight?" I proposed. Everyone looked at me with dithering eyes. "Oh, come on! It'll be fun, it'll be far away from _this _disaster," I gestured around the room, "and Oliver can get his fill of competition."

"I knew there was a reason I liked you," Oliver said with a smile before he turned to the others. "Me, Katie, and Alicia versus you three," he declared as he pointed at Angelina, Fred, and George.

"Uh uh, no way," Angelina protested. "If you think I'm gonna let you lob more things at Fred's face, you've got another thing coming. Girls versus boys."

"I like it," Alicia purred.

"Me too." I smirked at Oliver and he raised an eyebrow but smirked right back.

As I stepped outside, I thanked Merlin that today was the one day we didn't have Quidditch practice: it was painfully freezing. The wind was attacking us from all sides, threatening to rip our hats from our heads and our scarves from our necks, but if there was one thing you gained by being on a Quidditch team it was willpower, so none of us even considered going inside.

We traveled down towards Hagrid's Hut where the trees of the Forbidden Forest could shelter us from the wind and began building forts for our defense. When we were done we walked to neutral territory.

"Well, looks like this is goodbye, Angelina," Fred said as he took Angelina's hands in his own.

"What do you mean?" Angelina whimpered as she stared up at him with pleading eyes.

"It means you're now the enemy. You're the-" SMACK.

"It means you're slow," Angelina declared as she wiped the excess snow from her snowball from her gloves. I looked at Oliver, and for the split second he was still, he was glaring daggers at Angelina. Then he sprinted towards the fort and began hurling snowballs.

Angelina, Alicia, and I retreated to our wall of defense where we'd already stashed about twenty snowballs. Being girls, we already knew what the boys' strategy would be. Oliver, being the smashing keeper that he was, would stay behind, making snowballs and hurling them from the boys' territory while Fred and George ran around like chickens with their heads cut off, launching snowballs at anything and everything. Just like beaters.

Our strategy was much less complicated: We worked as a team. So, just like Quidditch, no one was left behind. We were all on offense and made snowballs only as necessity called for it.

The boys' strategy seemed pointless. Oliver staying behind seemed unnecessary as there was nothing to defend; there was no winning or losing in this game.

Another flaw in their plan? They didn't have goals. Fred and George were just aiming wherever they fancied. Angelina, Alicia, and I knew better. Angelina and Alicia were going for Fred and George respectively. As for me, well...there were no hoops to hurl my snowballs through, so Oliver's head would have to suffice.

I helped the other girls first, trying to inconspicuously make my way over to Oliver so I could hit him when he least expected it. Fred tackled Angelina to the ground and Alicia and I began backing her up by aiming all our forces at Fred. George was no match for us, though he didn't relent in throwing snowballs at our backsides. They were on the ground for a few minutes; however, after Angelina had stopped even _trying _to push Fred off, we knew something was up. Upon closer inspection, we realized they weren't fighting. They were snogging.

"Ugh, have some decency, you horny pigs!" Alicia shouted as she turned her attention back toward George, whose eyes widened at the coming attack.

_Oh, so _that's_ how we're going to play._

I whipped around toward Oliver and his face showed no sign of the reluctance that George's had. Abandoning all tactic, I ran straight for him at top speed as I raised the snowball in my hand. Through my narrowed eyes, I saw him crouch lower behind his wall, no doubt gathering snowballs of his own. Then a thought occurred to me.

As snowballs pelted at me through the air, I crashed right through his fort and smacked into Oliver. We rolled down the slight hill, tangled in each other, and assaulting the other's face with snow. Finally, we came to stop and too quickly for me to stop him, Oliver pinned me to the ground.

"Face it, Bell. You're no match for me," Oliver growled at me, a smirk on his face which was only centimeters from mine.

I smirked right back at him as I grabbed fistfuls of his clothes and pulled him down on top of me and began kissing him so passionately that the howling winter wind became a sultry summer breeze. After we'd both grown red in the face, I pulled back and saw with satisfaction that Oliver looked shocked.

"You were saying?" I purred as I traced a finger down his chest.

He took a few deep breaths. "I - don't even - remember," he gasped.

I raised my eyebrows.

"All right, all right," he confessed. "You win."

"Now_ that's_ what I like to hear," I said as wiggled out from underneath him. His arm caught me around the waist.

"Did I say I was finished?" he persisted before his lips crashed down on mine again.

Our hats, gloves, and cloaks lay forgotten amidst the heaps of snow and our ragged breathing rivaled the vicious gusts of wind when we parted. I sat up, with difficulty as Oliver had refused to let me go, and saw - to my surprise and not to my surprise at the same time - that not only were Fred and Angelina still wrapped around each other, but so were George and Alicia. I looked towards Oliver who had also spotted the mass of arms and legs; his eyes were as wide as when Harry had received his Nimbus Two Thousand.

"Alicia and - and - George?" he sputtered with a look of amused shock on his face.

I shrugged. "I guess, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em." Oliver laughed heartily.

Someone cleared their throat. Fearing it was a teacher, I turned my head slowly, dreading what punishment we would receive when they saw the several very public snogging sessions currently taking place in the snow.

But it wasn't a teacher: It was a very squat, surly dwarf wearing golden wings.

"Are you Oliver Wood?" he asked. Even though Oliver was sitting, he was still taller than the dwarf.

"Who wants to know?" Oliver questioned, though he nodded.

"I have a Valentine for you," the dwarf said before he cleared his throat again. Oliver looked at me in amusement, but I stared back puzzled: I hadn't sent him anything. His brow furrowed before he turned back towards the dwarf, for it had begun to sing in a gritty voice.

_I dream about him in my hours asleep._

_His chocolate eyes are so warm and so deep._

_He makes my heart sputter and flutter and leap._

_Oliver Wood's the one I want to keep._

When he was done, the dwarf bowed low before trooping back up towards the castle.

"'His chocolate eyes are so warm and so deep!'" chorused a twin from somewhere behind us.

"'Oliver Wood's the one I want to keep!'" the other crowed.

Oliver launched snowballs at each before they'd even had time to disentangle themselves from the girls.

"What was that?" Angelina called from around Fred.

"It was a - a Valentine, I think..." Oliver murmured as he glanced back to the retreating figure of the dwarf.

"Merlin, Katie. I had no idea you were so... romantic," Fred gushed.

"It...it wasn't me." Everyone's faces contorted with confusion. "I didn't send it."

Oliver peered at me. "Then who did?" he asked. But I didn't have time to give him my unhelpful answer, for another dwarf was approaching us.

"You Oliver Wood?" he questioned.

Everyone else glanced at Oliver, but he glanced at me. "No," he said, without any air of falsehood.

The dwarf's eyes narrowed. "Yes, you are." He pointed at Oliver's chest, right at his Quidditch Captain badge. "You're the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain! You're him!"

Oliver's face flushed the tiniest bit. "No, I'm not. I'm - I'm his twin."

"Hey, that's our excuse, mate!" shouted George from beyond. Oliver's cheeks deepened in color.

"That's what I thought," the dwarf said and he began to sing.

This Valentine wasn't as bad the last, though this time the song had focused more on his...er...physical attributes. By the end, I was blushing almost as deeply as Oliver himself.

"Well...that was, er, interesting," Fred mused as the second dwarf stomped away.

Desperate for a topic change, I rounded on George and Alicia. "Since when?" I yelled. Both heads whipped toward me and looked at me knowingly.

"Just now, of course," Alicia answred. "When else?"

"Alicia dearest could only ignore my dashingly good looks for so long," George announced with reverence. Alicia hit him upside the head before George pounced on her again.

"So," I said as turned back towards Oliver, "what do we do now?"

THWACK.

"You did _not_ just do that, Oliver Wood."

He grinned wickedly. "Oh, I believe I just did."

I gave up packing the snow into balls and settled for just shoving snow in his face. He did the same.

The sky was a light lavender as we finally got up to head back towards the castle for dinner. Nine Valentine's Day dwarves had delivered messages to Oliver in our time outside. And I swore by Merlin's left nut that I would strangle the next dwarf who so much as opened his mouth around Oliver. I mean, I knew Oliver had many...supporters, but this was just ridiculous! Didn't they understand that Oliver was off the market? Didn't they understand that Oliver Wood was _mine_?

I wrapped my arms as tight as possible around Oliver's waist as we headed into the Great Hall.

"You know, you're going to leave a dent if you hold me any tighter," Oliver said as he smirked down at me. I rolled my eyes and loosened my grip the tiniest bit, but when we sat down, I was practically in his lap.

"I guess I won't complain," Oliver remarked as he wound his right arm around my middle and pulled me close.

I heard someone clear their throat from behind.

"Oh, _bloody hell_! Would you just leave-"

It was McGonagall.

I hurled myself away from Oliver so fast that I slammed into the second year beside me and nearly knocked him off the bench.

"That's better," McGonagall observed with a stern look as she headed up to the High Table.

"Goodness, Katie. Feeling a little bold, are we?" George mused from across the table.

"Shut it," I shot back. Then I noticed his proximity to Alicia and smirked. "You're one to talk."

George smiled and glanced at Alicia before he pulled her onto his lap. "Yeah, well you know me. I'm the daring type."

And he planted a huge kiss on her lips for everyone to see to prove his point.

**Review, please. It'll make me update faster in the summer :)**


	18. Tidal Wave

**Hey guys! It's been so hard to get the inspiration to write this, but goodness gracious! Once I started writing, I couldn't stop! I hope you enjoy this, as it was tough to write. And if the beginning seems a little bland, don't worry, there's a pretty steamy scene at the end that makes this chapter a wee bit special. I think, I KNOW, you'll enjoy it. Especially you, Kraney, for suggesting I go into more detail ;) Please read and enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I would not be THIS excited for the Deathly Hallows movie if I owned Harry Potter.**

**CHAPTER 18 - TIDAL WAVE**

_The Northern Scotland Goblin Front had used intense warfare tactics in order to gain back their land, their possessions, and their power._

Hmm...Oliver was Scottish. He was intense.

_Leaders of the rebellion ordered many wizarding houses to be set ablaze, resulting in damages too vast and irreversible to be corrected by wand magic._

The fire in the common room was warm and reading about goblin rebellions was doing vast and irreversible damage to my brain.

_Some other well-known goblin groups, such as the Western Europe Resistance Brotherhood, even incorporated ancient forms of hypnosis which were unfamiliar to wizard kind. The most commonly used form was _Eternus Somnus,_ in which the victim would be put into a coma that would last until the perpetrator lifted the "curse" (the word curse is a loose term here, as goblins cannot perform wizard magic)._

It was sure putting me to sleep...

"Katie?"

All at once, my forehead smacked the table, my book fell from my lap and crashed on the floor, and my arms fumbled to push myself up.

Oliver was smirking at me from the other end of the couch.

"You know, you really shouldn't be reading in the dark like this." He gestured towards me with two fingers as if to stress his point. "If you're going to be one of my chasers, you need to have flawless eyesight."

"You know, you really shouldn't sneak up on someone like that when they're sleeping," I grumbled back at him as I rubbed my eyes. "If you're going to be my boyfriend, you need to let me sleep."

I drowsily reached to the floor for my History of Magic book, but Oliver - being wide awake - beat me to the punch.

Oliver's eyes widened in mock concern. "And continue to let you drool all over this innocent little book? I think not."

I rolled my eyes as he sat down next to me. "Give me that." I made to snatch the book from his hands, but he held it out of my reach.

Then I noticed the color of the sky outside. "What time is it?"

"After midnight. I just got back from my detention. McGonagall made me clean the entire Quidditch pitch without magic. She said I had to clean as long as it took me until I got the job done. Something about teaching me the purpose of curfew. Well anyways, in case you haven't noticed, there are giant heaps of snow all over the place, so it took a while to even find the ground." He shrugged, unconcerned by the late hour or the amount of work he'd had to do. He probably saw his punishment as an honor, actually. Same old obsessed Wood. "What's kept you up so late?" he asked as he turned my book over in his hands.

"Ah, goblin rebellions. No wonder." He placed the book on the table and gave me a sympathetic look. "I've been learning about goblin rebellions for five years and I still haven't managed to comprehend a single word."

"That's because you're too busy thinking over Quidditch plays in Binns's class to care." I yawned and rested my head on his shoulder.

"How do you know?" he asked, twisting to look down at me, his eyes full of mild surprise.

"Oh please, Oliver. Do you ever _not_ have Quidditch on your mind?"

"No, but -"

I nestled further into his side and said with a sigh, "Well, at least it probably looks like you're paying attention. Binns probably thinks you're the most attentive and determined student he's ever had, what with your Quidditch face and all." I closed my eyes, content.

"Katie, you know better than to think Binns would actually acknowledge my or any other student's existence. I mean, blimey! The man doesn't even know he's dead!"

I lazily hummed in agreement.

"And what's this about a Quidditch face?"

Though I was half asleep already, I couldn't help the small smile that spread across my face. "Mmm...doesn't matter."

We sat in silence as the fire steadily died but then, "Katie, what's your middle name?"

I fluttered my eyes open and saw the fire blazing anew. I squirmed to look at Oliver. "What?"

He shrugged. "What's your middle name?"

"Oh. It's um...er... Elizabeth."

"Isn't that-?"

"My mum's name? Yeah. Original, right?" I chuckled. Oliver wrapped his arms around me.

"Katherine Elizabeth Bell," Oliver tested out. "I think it's pretty."

I had never thought anything of it; it was just my name. "Hmm, yeah. I suppose it is, sure." Then curiosity coursed through me and chased away every bit of fatigue. I sat up straighter.

_"_Alright, dish. What's your middle name?"

Oliver'seyes widened before he tightened his arms around me and planted a kiss on my cheek. "What's your favorite color?"

I pushed away from him. "Oh no, mister. You are _not _ getting out of this one. I've seen the initials ORW on your broom. You have to tell me!"

He shook his head vigorously. "No, it's too embarassing!"

"_Come on_, Oliver! It can't be that bad!" But he shook his head faster and remained adamant.

It was time to play dirty.

I pulled myself up to my knees and straddled him before weaving my fingers into his still snow-wet hair. The smell of wood and grass filled my head as I leaned in and whispered against his lips, "Please tell me."

His hands gripped my waist roughly and my heart swelled at the thought of what would happen next, but instead Oliver pushed me back down to the couch and placed his arm around me once more. I stubbornly crossed my arms and tried my best to ignore the disappointment and the butterflies that were making their way up my throat.

"You have to promise not to laugh," Oliver said suddenly.

I whipped around to face him with a wicked glint in my eye. "Promise," I declared as I offered him my pinkie. He stared at it for a second, perplexed.

"Never mind," I said as he placed my hand on the couch, "just tell me!"

He looked down at his lap. "It's Ragmar."

"Oh...well that's...different." I'd never even heard the name before.

"Alright, just go ahead and laugh. Let it out." He swung his arm off me and put his head in his hands.

"Why would I laugh?" Yeah, it was probably the strangest name I'd ever heard, but still, it could be worse. It could have been Scorpius or something.

"Because...because I'm named after Ragmar Dorkins!" He dramatically turned away from me. I placed a hand embracingly on his shoulder.

"Should I know who that is?"

He turned back around to face me with horror in his eyes. "He's - he's the - manager of the - the..."

I raised my eyebrows and nodded encouragingly.

"He's the manager of the Chudley Cannons!" Oliver blurted out, his eyes popping wide.

No further explanation was necessary. Everyone knew the Cannons were the absolute worst Quidditch team. They hadn't won a game in exactly a century.

I rubbed Oliver's back reassuringly because although his embarrassment was irrational to most, I knew what it would mean to him. For Oliver Wood, being named after the worst manager in the league was like being stabbed in the heart. By your best friend. Who was also your sister. With the bluntest blade ever, which meant it took hours to die the slowest, most torturous death. He probably thought Nearly Headless Nick had it easy.

"No one has to know," I promised. "Who cares about middle names anyway?"

"It's not even that," Oliver murmured. "Ragmar Dorkins is my... he's my... my uncle."

"Oh."

Oliver nodded solemnly.

"I mean, I'm not ashamed of him. He's great, he really is. He's just a little - He just - I mean, he only -" Oliver sighed. "If anyone knew about this, my reputation would be ruined."

"I understand. But really, Oliver, nothing could ruin your Quidditch reputation." I took his face in my hands and forced him to meet my eyes. "You really have no idea how bloody brilliant you are."

Even in the firelight, I could see his cheeks redden: obsessive as he was, Oliver was the most modest man on the planet. "I've got nothing on you."

"_Please_!" I rolled my eyes and threw up my hands in mock exasperation. "Do you _want_ me to count all the times I've dropped the Quaffle?"

He scratched his chin like he was stroking a beard as he thought for a moment. "Hmm...yes. It would give me a reason to make fun of you."

"Hold it, Ragmar. There's no need to make fun of me. Besides, if you do, just imagine how I could ruin your life?" I began counting on my fingers. "All the blackmail and the snide comments, and let's not forget the _twins-"_

Oliver lunged at me, knocking me backwards onto the couch, his lips fiercely moving against mine. It took all I had to not fall off the edge as I clung to him for dear life. He wound his fingers through my hair and small drops of water from the snow dripped from his hair onto my forehead and cheeks. One of his hands travelled down towards the small of my back as he began kissing my neck. The feeling was unbelievable, mind-shattering. It was as if someone had unleashed a tidal wave inside me that was banging against the walls of my body, too wild to be contained. Something told me Oliver could tell. Suddenly, he broke the kiss so he could pull of his jumper, but then he was back at my neck in record time. I left one of my hands at his neck, holding him where he was, then I ran the other hand down his back, my fingernails leaving their trace. His hand began rubbing my back and his other began massaging my shoulder. It was too much. It was...

"Oliver!" I moaned.

Shit.

He looked up at me with glazed eyes, his mouth hanging slightly open.

"Oliver," I panted. "We...we can't. No more...not here...not now."

I watched, my chest heaving with labored breaths, as Oliver came to his senses.

"I know," he said as he pushed off me and sat up. He ran a hand through his hair. "Merlin, I'm sorry. I guess I got..."

"Carried away? Yeah, me too." My cheeks burned just as red as his had earlier. " If we had been any louder-"

"I'm surprised no one _did _hear us and come down," he continued. I shuddered at the thought, but also due to the sudden cold that overtook me despite the fire. Oliver saw.

"Come here," he said as he pulled me close. "Just because things almost went too far doesn't mean we have to stay eight feet apart or anything."

I laughed once, darkly. "That's what you think." We were silent for a moment.

"That was..." Oliver began.

"Incredible," I finished. I couldn't even blink. "What brought that on?" I asked as I looked at him.

"Well, this might sound weird but...you're kind of sexy when you're being all devious." He pushed my hair back behind my ear and I shivered at his touch.

"Don't tell that to the twins," I warned. "They might come on to you." We both laughed.

"I guess I know what all the hubbub is about Valentine's day now. I can't believe how much I've been missing out on!" I kissed him lightly to prove my point.

"I know what you mean." He kissed my forehead. "So what is your favorite color?"

After we both knew every possible little quirk about each other - whether it be favorite food, favorite professor, or favorite word - Oliver finally decided to check the time.

"Merlin's beard!" I jumped at the intensity of his voice. "It's four in the morning!"

Panic set in. I hadn't finished my History of Magic reading. I lunged at the book.

Oliver blocked me. I shot him a frantic glance.

"Katie, calm down." He put his hands on my shoulders. "You know Binns won't care. And I have one more question, then we can go to bed."

"But-!" My eyes darted to the book again.

"One more," he said. He smirked, but his eyes were serious.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes before opening them again to his straight face.

"Who was your first kiss?"

I looked away from him, into the fire, afraid my eyes would betray my nerves. "You," I whispered.

He bent closer. "What was that?"

"You," I said sternly as I turned back to him.

"Pardon? Still didn't catch that."

"You bloody well were, Oliver Wood, and don't you forget it!" I poked him hard in the chest.

A smile broke across his face, brighter than the stars outside or the fire in the grate. "Now that's what I like to hear."

I rolled my eyes, but couldn't help my face from mirroring his.

"Just for the record," he added, "ditto."

"Merlin, Wood. A late bloomer, are we?" I raised one eyebrow at him.

"Go to bed, Miss First-Kiss. We have practice tomorrow."

I sighed but got up and took his hand in mine.

At the stairs, we kissed each other goodnight, and I knew, I one hundred percent knew, that I was indeed going to have a goodnight. Hell, I already had.

**That's all for now! Review all you want and tell me how much you love Katie and Oliver, because Merlin's beard, I sure do :)**


	19. Obsession

**Long unexpected chapter! I was planning to write about the Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff game and this was supposed to only be what led up to it, but BAM! full chapter! I would've continued on but this was getting too long and I think the game might need an entire chapter to itself. I have plans (smirks and rubs hands together in a fashion that would make Fred and George proud). Although actually, they're Jo's plans, since the **_**Chamber of Secrets**_** subplot is going to weave itself through my story once more. Be ready.**

**A special thank you to my most recent reviewers, OliveTreeHugger, L.C. Li, kraney, and my newest reader Amadea. I had a hard time getting motivated to write chapter eighteen, but all your reviews got me excited for this one! (Although the millions of KB/OW stories I read this week might have had a hand in that. You all should read 's stories and "Of Love and Quidditch" by Amadea. They completely SLAUGHTER mine.)**

**Lastly, if you would happen to be so kind, drop a review and make me a happy author :) Promise, it'll make my day. Pinkie swear (not that Oliver would know what that is).**

**Credit to J.K.R.**

**Enjoy!**

**CHAPTER 19 - OBSESSION**

Quidditch practices grew longer and more strenuous as the Easter holidays came and went, except now almost the entire team matched Oliver's drive to win: our game against Hufflepuff was one week away and a win was sure to solidify Gryffindor's spot in the final. On the pitch, we were as golden as the Snitch itself, but off the pitch, it was a completely different scenario:

Oliver spoke to no one between the hours of two and five, as he deemed that time his "Me Time," where he huddled himself in a corner and poured over plays, plays, and more plays. The Weasley twins got a kick out of this and came up with all sorts of ways to misconstrue "Me Time" - most of which were rapidly spreading around the school - but even their nerves seemed to be on edge. A baggy-eyed Angelina was beginning to give Oliver a run for his galleons in the anxiety department. She had taken to yelling at anyone who interrupted Oliver's "Me Time," including Fred, and this resulted In Alicia's fruitless attempts to calm her best friend down. Every night, a similarly worn-out looking Alicia would make Angelina a cup of tea and let her rant until she ran out of steam, at which point she would haul herself and Angelina up to the dorm. Harry alone seemed unaffected by the stress of the upcoming match, although he was frequently seen pouring over an old tattered journal. I did my best to stay levelheaded, but truth be told, I was having nightmares every night that we would lose; everything seemed to be running too smoothly to be true. To occupy my thoughts, I sat next to Alicia and dazedly listened to Angelina fret as I watched Oliver murmur to himself from afar. As unnerved as I was, at least I hadn't had to worry about the Chamber of Secrets. No one had been Petrified in months and everyone was sure the attacks were at an end.

"Good morning," I said brightly as I plopped down next to Oliver on the couch before breakfast on Sunday. He nodded once before placing an arm around me but said nothing. I didn't expect anything less. We sat there in contented silence (as content as Oliver could be nowadays) as we waited for the others. Minutes passed and though I would have given up my broomstick to not have to move from my spot curled up against Oliver, a sneeze with the force of five thousand Filibuster Fireworks erupted from my nose. Oliver looked down at me apprehensively as I summoned a box of tissues from across the room.

"What's wrong?" Oliver demanded as I blew my nose heartily. I didn't have to see his face to know his tone was out of concern for his _chaser_, not his girlfriend.

"Oh, nothing, nothing," I said with a dismissive wave of my hand. "Just allergies." His eyes narrowed at the word. "Don't worry, I'll talk to Pomfrey before the match."

"Too right, you will," he said without any trace of compassion. Angelina (or any sensible girl, really) would have punched him at this, but I knew that being Oliver Wood's girlfriend was bound to be brutal. Especially during Quidditch season.

"Ready to go?" Alicia sang as she hurried down the stairs, Angelina in her wake. Alicia's nerves never took full effect until dinner time.

I had to clear my throat several times before I could answer, and Oliver didn't miss this. He offered me his hand as he stood up, but he glared down at me. I shrugged sheepishly.

I cleared my throat one more time before asking, "Where are your lovers?"

Angelina's cheeks burned crimson but Alicia confidently answered, "Still sleeping, the lazy bums. They'll probably nick something for themselves later anyways. You know, them and their _connections_." She shook her head fondly.

I laughed lightly but was interrupted by a sneeze almost as violent as its predecessor. Oliver scowled at me again.

Despite our attempts to stay light-hearted, everyone's moods began to darken as we ate breakfast. The talk of the looming match was hard to tune out. Oliver looked as stoic as ever.

"You know, if you stay like that," I pointed at Oliver's frown with my fork, "your face will be frozen forever." I smiled hopefully but he just angrily shoved some porridge into his mouth. He was the first to finish.

"Practice at six," he commanded, then he stood up and left the table without a glance back at me. I stared after his retreating figure and I tried to smile.

"I don't know how you do it," Angelina sighed. I turned to look at her with a surprised look on my face.

"What do you mean?"

"The way he's treating you." Her voice was saturated with care. "I mean, don't get me wrong, Oliver's my friend and all, but he's being a downright arse to you these days."

Alicia rolled her eyes. "Ange, in case you haven't noticed, Oliver is an arse to _everyone_ when it comes to Quidditch. And besides, who cares? He's bloody gorgeous."

Angelina's frown deepened. "But he's just being so inconsiderate."

I smiled despite myself. "Yeah, he is. But that's part of my job, I guess. I mean, putting up with him."

Angelina just looked at me. I had to clear my throat and sniffle once more before I could answer her.

"It's worth it," I said. "Trust me."

"_And_ he's gorgeous," added Alicia.

As it had been all week, the sky was a clear lavender during our last practice the night before the match, but it was deceivingly cold.

"Excellent! Great conditions!" Oliver commended as we made our way onto solid ground of the pitch. Practice was the only time he showed any signs of true buoyancy. "All we need is a few clouds to block out the sun for visibility and it'll be perfect! And the - cup - will - be - ours!" He punched the air with every word.

"Ew. Why would we want that?" George asked with a grimace.

"Nasty little trophy, that is," Fred added.

Oliver turned to look at them, his eyes aghast. You'd have thought they had mistaken his head for a Bludger and hit him over the head with one of their clubs.

Fred held up his hands defensively. "Calm down, mate. Only joking."

"Yes, no need to have an aneurysm, old chap," George said as he clapped Oliver on the back. Oliver shook his head as if he were trying to shake away the thought of losing.

"All right, team. Up in the air." We all kicked off. "Harry, I'm releasing the Snitch now." The Snitch fluttered upwards. "Bludgers and...Quaffle!" He tossed the red ball high into the air before zooming off towards the goal posts.

I had no problem scoring my first few goals but after Alicia threw me the Quaffle for the fourth time, I sneezed again. The Quaffle hit me hard in the stomach and I doubled over in pain as the ball plummeted to the ground. When I recovered, I saw Angelina had dived to save the Quaffle and keep it in play. I glanced towards Oliver; he was scowling at me again. I sent him what I hoped was an apologetic look, but it might have been angry. When we were on the pitch, he was a captain and I was a chaser. Not boyfriend and girlfriend. And this meant my temper was very liable to explode.

Another thirty minutes passed and it was flawless. Half the time, Oliver blocked all our shots to perfection, and the other half of the time our shots sailed right by him. Fred and George were hitting Bludgers left and right with perfect precision and Harry had already caught the Snitch six times. Our chances at the cup had never looked better, until I was passed the Quaffle again.

One moment, the Quaffle was soaring straight to me, a perfect pass. The next moment, however, I was hunched over my broom and wheezing.

It felt like my throat was on fire, lined with sandpaper, and slowly constricting until there would be no air left. I gasped as quickly as I could and tried to inhale deeply, but there was just not enough air for me to breathe.

Faster than a Bludger, George was next to me, talking. I couldn't hear what he was saying through my desperate but still shallow breaths, but somewhere in the distance, I could hear shouting that was continually growing closer.

Then I was on the ground.

"What the _bloody_ hell was _that_, Bell!" The voice was getting closer.

Someone took my broom from me then someone else sat me on the grass and propped up my head and I continued to cough and gasp.

"If this happens during the match-!"

"Wood, SHUT IT!" Angelina bellowed.

"But Bell-"

"_Katie _can barely breathe right now!"

"But she-"

"WOOD!"

I couldn't have this. I couldn't have them fighting, not the night before the match. So even though my throat was too tight to let any air through, I quietly rasped "Guys - don't..."

Everyone immediately stopped talking and stared straight at me and I stared at Oliver. "I'm - fine - allergies," I panted.

He glared back at me with hard eyes but quickly muttered, "George, take her to the hospital wing."

George bent down, wrapped an arm around my waist, and lifted me off the ground.

"No..." I croaked. "The match - is to-tomorrow..." No one paid me any attention as George began to hobble us towards the castle.

I looked back at Oliver, desperate for him to call me back. Surely, he of all people would understand, know what this could do to the game tomorrow, but he simply watched us go with now anxious eyes; not the eyes of a captain, but the eyes of a lover.

Madame Pomfrey said it was asthma and gave me a potion to diminish the symptoms. Nothing, _nothing_ had tasted worse than this, even Skele-Gro. Then again, maybe it was just the burning of my raw throat that made it so awful. George stayed dutifully by my side as I slowly drank the entire dose.

"Oliver was bang out of order," George murmured as I neared the end of the potion. "He's barking. He shouldn't talk to you like that. No one should. To any of us."

I shook my head as the potion went down. "No. He just wants to win. So-"

"Katie, you were barely breathing and all the man did was yell at you for missing a pass!"

Though I was glad for his presence, I glared at George. "Do you want to win or not?"

"Of course I do, but-"

"Then give him a break. You know how Oliver thinks. We have to win."

George rolled his eyes and placed a hand on my shoulder. "You, Katie Bell, are obsessed."

Oliver silently came into the ward around half past eight, still in his Quidditch garb. He nodded without a word at George as he got up to leave.

"See you tomorrow, Katie," George called with a wave. And he was gone. I looked back at Oliver who was gazing at his feet.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled to the floor. "I shouldn't have treated you like that."

I shrugged. "It's okay," I said lightly. His eyes shot up to meet mine.

"What?" he asked rather alarmed.

I shrugged again. "You just want to win." He gaped at me, his mouth hanging open. "I want to win too. We all do. We just have different ways of...expressing our enthusiasm."

"I'm still sorry. It's no excuse for my behavior." He grabbed my hand and massaged it with his thumb.

I laughed. "Oliver, it's who you are. I knew what I was signing up for when I became your girlfriend. If being with you means insane Quidditch tirades, I'll take it. I can handle it." I beat my chest with my free hand. "I'm tough. And I want to win."

He nodded and laughed too. "And you think _I'm _insane."

I pursed my lips in mock though. "No," I said slowly, "I know you're insane."

"So..." he began. "You're okay to play tomorrow?"

"No," I said with a smirk, "I'm okay to _win._"


	20. Disruption

**Hello, anyone reading this! Sorry this took so long (although I did say I would most likely be updating only once a month). I finally got a job so I've been kind of busy, and of course now that I am busy, I suddenly have loads of plans with friends. And that's all I really have to say on that matter, so time for some thank you's:**

**kraney- Glad you liked the chapter, though I'm not surprised. You're nice enough to like anything I write. Sorry I haven't talked to you in so long!**

**Lizzie- Yeah. Oliver is pretty much a huge jerk, but at least Katie thinks he makes up for it. We'll just have to wait and see, won't we :)**

**ForeverTeamEdward13- I'm happy you liked it and here's me updating! Hope you enjoy this one too!**

**Secondly, I meant to mention this in an earlier chapter and I promised L. C. Li I would, but I get so into writing the actual story that I forgot to post it: although my version of Katie is a fourth year, she is fifteen. In my head, she has a late birthday (like Hermione) and is therefore a year older than most of her classmates. I was too busy writing about more important things to mention her birthday, so there you go! Hope that clears up some confusion!**

**Credit to J.K. Rowling, especially the dialogue used in this chapter from chapter fourteen of **_**Chamber of Secrets**_**, "Cornelius Fudge."**

**CHAPTER 20 - DISRUPTION**

There were only six hours left until our match versus Hufflepuff, and sleep was still evading me. Try as I might, I just could not get comfortable with my unrelenting nerves, my drier-than-before throat, and my mysteriously nauseous stomach. Asthma, my arse; something was _wrong_, and I knew it. It took me much longer than it should have to realize my attempts at sleep were futile, so the moment the sun broke the horizon, I threw on my dressing gown and made my way downstairs to the common room.

I was not surprised to find that I wasn't alone as I stepped off the bottom stair: Oliver always woke at dawn on days when we had a match. He was in his usual corner, hunched over his playbook like he had been all this week. Though he did not look up at my entrance, I could see there were dark circles under his eyes that could rival the ones I would surely have from my sleepless night. Knowing better than to disturb him, I made my way over to the window by the fireplace, when I noticed someone else was awake: Alicia was sitting in one of the armchairs, a cup of tea cradled in her hands. She looked up at me and smiled without a trace of drowsiness on her features.

"Good morning," she greeted quietly.

I chanced a glance at Oliver - he hadn't moved at her words.

"'Morning," I mumbled as I settled myself in the chair next to her. She poured me a cup of tea without my having to ask.

"Why are you up so early?" she asked as she handed me the cup.

"Couldn't sleep." I peeked at Oliver again. "My throat was bothering me all night." No need to worry anyone about my stomach.

"Don't tell Wood. He might chuck you off the team." She chuckled and so did I, but we both knew there was only so much sarcasm to her words.

There was a moment of silence in which we could only hear the hushed scratch of Oliver's quill and the soft slurping of our lips. The tea worked wonders for my aching throat, though it did nothing for the nausea. Though it was still scalding, I downed the cup in two sips and Alicia poured me more without even asking.

"So why are you up?" I asked her after half my second cup was gone.

She shrugged with a small smile and simply said, "Nerves."

My eyebrows shot up. "You? You, Miss Cool, Calm, and Collected? Nerves?"

She shrugged again. "It happens to the best of us."

"Yeah, it does." I glimpsed at Oliver again. "So I'm guessing you didn't get much sleep, either?"

"You could give Trelawney a run for her galleons."

"At least you _look_ awake." My shoulders slumped. "I probably look like Snape on a bad day."

Alicia giggled. "Honey, even Snape on a _good_ day ain't got nothing on you."

"Thanks, I think," I sighed before I finished off the rest of my tea. My stomach churned and I did my best to ignore it.

"We're so close," Alicia muttered as she looked out the window towards the rising sun. "We're so much better than we were last year."

I nodded and waited for the sickness to fade before I answered, "Yeah."

"We can't lose it now, _we can't_." From what I could see, her expression screwed up for just a second, then she turned to me and said, "I mean, just think what a loss would do to my reputation!"

"Well, win or lose, it'll be over in a few hours." I smiled. "And I don't know about you, but I plan on winning."

She nodded enthusiastically and my stomach heaved again. I tasted the burn of vomit in the back of my throat and quickly stood up.

"Katie?" Alicia asked in alarm. I swallowed back the bile as I nervously glanced at Oliver. He was still absorbed in his plays.

"I'm, uh -" I swallowed again "-I'm going to go get dressed." And I hurried off towards the spiral staircase as fast as I could without attracting Oliver's attention.

The moment I wrenched the dormitory door open, I gagged. I frantically peered around the room, but no one had woken up. I hastily cleaned up the floor with my wand before I ran to the bathroom and dashed to a toilet.

Swell after swell, my stomach retched until there was nothing more to expel. Desperate though I was for a glass of water, I was afraid to move for fear of further upsetting my stomach.

There was a knock on the door. I heard it click open but I didn't care enough to turn my head.

"Katie?" Alicia whispered anxiously. I heard her footsteps quicken in pace as she rushed over to me where I was arched over the toilet.

"Oh, Katie," she moaned. She pulled my sweat-damp hair out of my face before she got me a glass of water. I could not drink it fast enough. My throat was now burning ten times worse than the previous day.

"What's wrong?" she asked as she magicked a cold washcloth into existence and began dabbing my forehead.

"N-nothing. Just nerves." _Come on, Katie, just this once tell a good lie_.

"I'm not buying that, Bell. Not even _Wood_ has puked yet this season."

Damnit, she was right.

"All right, fine. I -" But my throat couldn't say anymore.

"Augamenti," Alicia said as she pointed her wand at the cup. It refilled to the brim and I drank it greedily.

I took a few deep breaths and she waited patiently. "I don't know what's wrong. It's not asthma."

"And this is _really_ what kept you up all night, isn't it?" She raised her eyebrows accusingly and I nodded. She gently pulled me into the circle of her arms and rubbed my back soothingly.

"Please don't tell, Oliver," I whimpered and all of the sudden, I was sobbing into her shoulder. "If he finds out, he won't let me play! He'll bring in a reserve and we'll lose! And you said it yourself, we can't lose, we _can't_. Not after last year."

"Calm down, calm down." She pulled back to look at me. "No one's going to tell that crazy boy anything, as long as _this_ crazy girl" she poked my chest "takes care of herself before the match."

I clenched at her robes. "I will, I promise, I'll do anything!" I cried. We would _not _ lose and it would _not_ be all my fault if we did.

She stood up slowly and then helped me up. "How about you clean up a bit? I'm going down to breakfast with George in a half hour. Oliver's already gone down."

I nodded and made my way to the sink.

"See you soon, Katie." She was at the door. "Feel better."

Countless charms later, I was as ready as I was ever going to be. The thick bags beneath my eyes had not gone away, but I had managed to dull them a few shades in hue. My throat had been tamed by several charms I found in one of Angelina's Healer books: however, my stomach felt just as queasy. I knew vomit and Quidditch did not mix well, but there was no time to see Pomfrey now, and I was not about to ruin our chance for the Cup. I'd taken one too many Bludgers to the head to give in _that_ easily.

The rest of the team had already converged in the Great Hall for breakfast. As I passed between the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor tables, I noticed Oliver was flitting around, piling all sorts of foods on the team's plates. He had entered the final stage of his pre-match routine: mania. At twenty feet away, I could already hear him babbling at top speed.

"Look at that sunshine! Not too bright, and barely a cloud in the sky!" He poured George an overflowing glass of pumpkin juice before accidentally hit him in the head with the pitcher. "And not too hot, but not cold!" He spooned some eggs onto Angelina's lap, missing her plate completely. "Perfect Quidditch conditions!"

"'Morning, Katie," she grumbled as I sat down next to her and she started wiping her trousers.

Oliver darted over to me and immediately began loading my plate with bacon and toast. Just the look of the porridge as he ladled it into my bowl sent my stomach into upheaval, but this faded into the back of my mind as Oliver took me by surprise by planting a kiss on my cheek before he hurried off around the table saying, "Harry, buck up there, you need a decent breakfast."

At the displeasure of my stomach, I ate what I could and settled for water as I waited for the rest of the team to finish. Fred and George had scarfed down everything in sight while Alicia and Angelina ate only half of what Oliver had given them. Oliver - always too concerned with the welfare of his team to properly look after himself - had eaten nothing aside for a single slice of bacon. However, Oliver and I were not the only ones avoiding food: Harry had not touched his plate yet. He, like me, was looking up and down the Gryffindor table, dozens of questions gleaming in his eyes. I brushed it off - I didn't need to worry about Harry today. I already had enough on my plate, and as I thought this, I looked down at my breakfast and felt the bile rise in my throat once more.

I didn't take in a word of Oliver's pep talk as I focused on trying not to upchuck what little breakfast I had had. I knew the basis of what he would say anyways: "It's our year," "We have it in the bag," "Hufflepuff doesn't stand a chance," "You can do it , Harry," blah blah blah. We'd heard it all before.

Sooner than I would have liked, we walked onto the field to deafening applause. Oliver, his nerves beside him, took off on his broom and did a few warm-up laps around the goal posts. Hufflepuff was still in a pre-match huddle and the rest of us were just mounting our brooms when McGonagall came hurrying across the middle of the field, a giant megaphone in her hands.

"This match has been cancelled," she thundered. I sighed a breath of relief and so did my stomach. We would play another day and I would be in perfect condition. Oliver, along with the rest of the school, didn't share quite the same sentiments. He shot towards the ground and without even getting off his broom cried, "But, Professor! We've got to play - the cup - _Gryffindor_ -"

She ignored him completely and continued, "All students are to make their way back to the House common rooms, where their Heads of Houses will give them further information. As quickly as you can, please!"

The moment my feet hit the ground, my stomach churned horribly once more. I bolted for the locker rooms, but the mass of students was just to thick to shove through, so instead I pushed my way through the crowd towards the castle and when I was in the clear, I ran at full speed to the nearest bathroom which was on the second floor.

As soon as I was in the bathroom, my will crumbled and then it was a repeat of earlier. I threw up until nothing but dry heaves remained. I heard a girl say "Disgusting! And that's _my_ toilet!" from behind me, but I was too sick to care.

Within a matter of minutes, all of my energy was used up and I slumped onto the cold stone floor.

**Just for future notice, the next chapter will be mostly, if not all, in Oliver's point of view. Keep reading!**


	21. Desperate

**So I basically cranked this one out. And I think it's safe to say I have about 3 more chapters left. But don't fret, because then it's on to the sequel! (Which, of course, will be **_**Prisoner of Azkaban **_**compatible.) I'm so excited. I know EXACTLY where I'm going with this story and I can't wait to get there. **

**I have to go to work in exactly 8 minutes, so I don't have time to thank my reviewers individually, but let me just say that I freaking love you all. I went through all of them, old and new, last night and it was so touching to know that you guys like my story enough to comment on it. I guess I always figured I'd be the only one interested in it.**

**Last thing: My absolute favorite part about writing this story (aside from making Oliver a bumbling, inexperienced idiot) is throwing in hints about what's going on in Harry's part of the story (as in the actual plot of **_**Chamber of Secrets**_**). I'm pretty proud of these little mentions, but no one seems to pick them out! So, as a challenge (and contest of sorts), the first person to review and mention one of my not-so-obvious nods to CoS gets a rather special character named after them in an upcoming chapter. Huzzah!**

**Hope you enjoy!**

**Credit to J.K.R.**

**CHAPTER 21 - DESPERATE**

**-OLIVER'S POINT OF VIEW-**

_Cancelled? What the bloody hell?_

She had to be kidding. What could be more important than Quidditch?

Everyone began rushing around me towards the castle but I didn't move: Oliver Wood didn't give up that easily.

"But Professor! We could win! The cup - the -" but she ignored me as she to beckoned Harry.

I could sense defeat so I let myself be pushed along by the rest of the crowd. Nowhere in me could I find the will to walk off the pitch on my own terms.

Though I was mostly unaware of my surroundings as I was swept into the castle, I couldn't tone out the voices of the students. Some of them were mad about the match (though I'd bet my broomstick they had nothing on me), but others were oddly anxious. Merlin, what was wrong with these people?

Gryffindors of all shapes and sizes were stuffing themselves into the common room. With so much red and gold crammed together, it looked like a giant with a queasy stomach had eaten a - no, I won't go there. I could swear I was seeing some of these kids for the first time. Did they even go here? Before I could come to a conclusion on that, McGonagall crawled through the portrait hole, followed closely by Harry and that younger Weasley. Everyone fell into a dead silence at once.

"All students will return to their House common rooms by six o'clock in the evening. No student is to leave the dormitories after that time." _Shite. There goes evening practice._ "You will be escorted to each lesson by a teacher. No student is to use the bathroom unaccompanied by a teacher." _Well, that's a bit bizarre._ "All further Quidditch training and matches are to be postponed. There will be no more evening activities."

No. More. Quidditch.

_No more Quidditch._

Was this woman mental?

As she continued, her voice sounded how I felt: dead. "I need hardly add that I have rarely been so distressed. It is likely that the school will be closed unless the culprit behind these attacks is caught. I would urge anyone who thinks they might know anything about them to come forward." And she left back through the portrait hole.

_Attacks_? What attacks?

I looked around trying to find the rest of the team to make sense of what had happened. Surely McGonagall had been kidding when she cancelled Quidditch, right? This was all a bad dream. Despite my height, I still had to strain to see over the heads of everyone else, and even then I couldn't find a single one of my teammates.

"That's two Gryffindors down, not counting a Gryffindor ghost, one Ravenclaw, and one Hufflepuff," shouted the Quidditch commentator, Lee Jordan. Wait a minute, he was best friends with the twins. I craned my neck in his direction and could just make out two red heads as he went on, "Haven't _any_ of the teachers noticed that the Slytherins are all safe? Isn't it _obvious_ all this stuff's coming from Slytherin? The _Heir_ of Slytherin, the _monster_ of Slytherin - why don't they just chuck all the Slytherins out?" The room broke into applause.

Hold on.

Heir of Slytherin?

Two Gryffindors down...

I scanned every face in the common room as quickly as my eyes would let me and I noticed there was someone missing.

Katie was nowhere to be seen.

I must have knocked down a few people because I heard a cries of protests as I forcefully shoved my way through the crowd towards the Weasley twins. They were still cheering for Lee Jordan's speech. Without hesitation, I grabbed one by the collar of his robes.

"Where's Katie?" I barked and whichever twin it was, his eyes widened. The other twin glared menacingly at me, but I didn't care.

"Bloody hell, Wood! Let go! I know you're upset about Quidditch but don't you think-?"

"This isn't about Quidditch!" I shouted. "Where's Katie!"

The blood drained from his face as he surveyed the room. The other twin stepped forward and pried my hand off his brother.

"George," said Fred tensely as he rubbed his neck from my grip, "have you seen Katie?"

George shook his head slowly and then his eyes widened as he looked at his twin.

"You don't think -"

"She said _two _Gryffindors -"

"And that Creevey bloke was one which means..."

I bolted from the room.

I didn't care that McGongall said to stay in the common room. I didn't care that we weren't even allowed to go to the ruddy bathroom by ourselves. And I didn't care that someone or something was attacking students again.

All I cared about was finding Katie, wherever she was, and finding her alive. There was no other option: I never lost _anything_, and I wasn't about to start now.

With no idea of where to start, I began slamming doors open left and right. Somewhere in my mind, I knew portraits were yelling at me, commanding me to head back to Gryffindor Tower. My mind was working too fast, desperate to think of some sort of clue, to register if I had passed any teachers. The only thing I remembered was running into a ghost, but only because I ran right through him.

_Where had I last seen Katie?_ I thought to myself as I leaped down the end of a staircase to the fourth floor. I knew I had seen her at breakfast and I remembered that she had woken up earlier and sat with Alicia. She had said she was tired.

It was halfway down the staircase that was a shortcut to the second floor when I forgot there was a trick step. My foot lodged into the space and my upper body toppled forward, though my foot could not move. Frantically, I tried to free myself from every angle imaginable. Every second mattered because maybe seconds was all Katie had left. Maybe she was already -

"Wood!"

_Damn it!_ Still trying to pull my leg loose, I whipped around expecting to see a teacher.

It was Alicia.

She hurried down to me and hastily jumped over the trick step before she tightly wrapped her arms around me and easily set me free of the step. Thank Merlin for all that Quidditch.

"I think - I know - where Katie is," she stammered over labored breaths. My heart sped up so fast I thought it was going to run right up my throat.

"Where! How?" I sputtered.

"Fred and George told me where you went. Now come on!"

She grabbed my hand and launched us both down the rest of the staircase, through the tapestry at the end, and into a corridor on the second floor. We didn't stop sprinting, but she started to explain.

"Katie was sick this morning. She lied to you. Well, not really. She just didn't tell you, and she _should've_ told you -"

"Alicia," I growled threateningly.

"Sorry," she rasped as we careened around a corner. "It's not asthma she has and she knows it. She told me and I promised not to tell you because she promised she would fix it. But I don't think she did."

"So you're saying -"

"Here we are!" She screeched to a halt right in front of the door to a girls' bathroom and threw the door open.

"Katie?" she cried out as she darted into the room. "Katie?"

My stomach dropped with the first step I took over the threshold: something was not right about this place. I started to fling the door to every cubicle open.

"Myrtle, have seen a girl with blonde hair?" Alicia asked behind me to someone I hadn't seen. I threw another door open.

Katie was passed out, completely motionless, curled up on the floor in the stall.

"ALICIA!" I roared. I touched Katie's face: it was dead cold. "Alicia I found her!" She came running, followed closely by another ghost, this time of a girl.

"What do we do?" I gulped. "You don't think she's..." No.

Alicia knocked me out of the way and wedged herself into the stall. She grabbed Katie's wrist and concentrated for a second. All I could do was stare.

"She's alive," she sighed heavily. "Just blacked out."

Thank god. I took Katie back into my arms. "Well, we have to - to take her to the hospital wing - or - or something!"

Alicia's face looked shocked. "Are you insane, Wood? Did you _not_ hear anything McGonagall said?"

"But Katie -!"

"We'll take her up to the common room, where we're supposed to be. Angelina can take care of her." I looked down at the immobile form of Katie and nodded resolutely. "Now, come on! We have to get back!"

I scooped Katie up into my arms and ran from the room with Alicia at my heels.

**-KATIE'S POINT OF VIEW-**

I opened my eyes to the black of night in my dormitory. From what I could see, it looked different, but I was probably just disoriented. The fringe of a strange dream lingered in my brain; all I could remember was running, running as fast I could. And there was someone, a girl with a sorrowful voice, who was reprimanding me.

Anxious to forget the unnerving dream and get back to sleep, I rolled over in my bed.

And felt the form of someone else.

I yelped and shot up into a sitting position. Backing away from the sleeping figure, I almost toppled out of the bed as I grabbed my wand off the bedside table.

"_Lumos_!" I breathed unevenly.

Oliver's eyes popped open and scrunched uncomfortably at the sudden light.

"Blimey," he mumbled. "Do you mind -" his eyes snapped open "You're awake!"

"What are you talking about?" I looked around the room then and noticed it certainly wasn't mine. "Where am I?"

"You're in my dormitory." I must have made a face because he quickly continued in hushed tones, "No, no! Not like that!"

"Why?"

He sat up and looked at me seriously. "Can I have my wand first?"

"Oh," I nodded and handed it to him. He set it back on the nightstand but kept it lit.

"Now promise you'll stay calm."

Why would I need to stay calm? "I promise."

He explained what had happened and my stomach dropped with every word he spoke.

"So you don't remember any of it?" he murmured as he rubbed my shoulder comfortingly.

I shook my head. How had I missed all of this? I had to swallow before I was able to say, "Do we know who the other Gryffindor is?"

He stared into my eyes like he was trying to tell me something. Something desperate. Something important. Then he said, "No, not yet. It'll have spread by breakfast."

Someone else was gone. Someone else had come _so close_ to dying. And that someone could have been me.

"Oliver," I whispered, and though it went against my every nerve to say it, I said, "I'm scared."

He looked at me like he was trying to communicate something again. Several times his mouth opened, but no sound came out. Reaching for me, he put an arm around my shoulders to pull me close against his side.

"No one is going to get you, Katie," he promised under his breath. He kissed the top of my head.

"Yeah," I said halfheartedly. It was all I could manage. I exhaled shakily and prayed he wouldn't see the tears that had formed in the corners of my eyes. "All right," I said, braver than I felt as I pushed myself off the bed, I'll head to my dorm now."

His arms looped around my waste and pulled me back towards him. I landed with an "oof" back on his bed.

"You're not going anywhere." I looked at him inquiringly. His eyes were hard as he said, "I'm not letting you out of my sight."

**Review to your hearts' content :)**


	22. Losing It

**So this chapter is more of a filler chapter. I couldn't cut it and I couldn't make it longer because I would pretty much have to finish the story then. Due to my prolonging, I've decided there are two more chapters left and then it's the end! But don't fret: I'll be taking a short break since I'll be starting at a new college in less than two weeks, but once I'm settled in, I'll start the sequel! Which is going to be the bomb-diggity of course :)**

**As for the tiny **_**Chamber of Secrets**_** contest I held, there were two winners: Purple Painted Toenails and TwiHard24! I know I had said that the winner's name would be featured in this chapter, but I changed my mind and decided it will be the next chapter because Oliver has a little growing up to do yet and I want to do the name justice. And also, because there were two winners, there are going to be two characters! I can't wait to use both of your names :)**

**Time for some thank yous!**

**TwiHard24- I'm glad you're excited! I'm excited to write it! I love worried Oliver too. It shows that everyone, no matter how strong they might be, is vulnerable for something.**

**Purple Painted Toenails- Oh, it is going to get way more intense. Just you wait. Especially the sequel. BWAHAHAHHAHA!**

**kraney- Soooo you're actually right. I totally did update for you. I felt bad and I was too excited to write anyway. Merlin, I suck at cliffhangers haha**

**XritaskeeterhatersX- It's always nice to have a new reviewer! Glad you enjoy it!**

**teamjasperXD- I love writing out the actual scenes in the book. It's so fun to wonder how the other characters who aren't in Harry's position feel and view the situations. Here's that update you wanted!**

**CHAPTER 22 - LOSING IT**

"Wake up, wake up!" a boy hissed as he shook my shoulder too violently for the early hour.

"Mmmm...stop it, Oliver," I mumbled as I gripped the bed sheets tighter around me.

"Wake up!" the voice demanded once again. It was then that I realized there was no trace of a Scottish accent and my eyes shot open to find the face of George Weasley mere inches from my own.

"Bloody hell!" I shouted as I sat bolt upright, tugging the sheets up to my chin.

"Whuzgoinon?" Oliver muttered. His eyes squinted open and he peered at me then at George. He rubbed his eyes then ran a hand through his hair before he said, "What are you doing h-"

"Dumbledore's gone. Fudge and Malfoy sent him away last night."

Oliver sat up so fast that he nearly knocked me off the bed. I dragged the sheets with me as I tottered on the edge of the four-poster, exposing his Quaffle-covered boxers and matching shirt.

"What do you mean 'he's gone?'" he challenged as he glared up at George.

"I mean Dumbledore is _gone_," he shrugged, though unable to project his usual nonchalance. "MIA. Unaccounted for. No fire under the cauldron. Poof." Both boys looked at me, waiting for a reaction.

"Well, that's great," I said sarcastically as I casted my eyes downward, away from Oliver's and George's concerned faces.

"No one really knows all the details yet, but Fred and I are heading down to breakfast now with the girls. The truth is bound to get out." And with that, he walked out the door.

I scanned the room to make sure it was empty of the rest of the boys in Oliver's year before I got out of the bed. "Well, I guess I'll go get dressed now."

Oliver was out of his bed and blocking my way to the door before I'd even taken as much as a step. "No way. You heard what I said last night. I'm not leaving you alone. Especially not now."

My irrational side kicked into gear again, desperate to keep me from focusing on the dangerous matters at hand. "What? You expect me to wear _this_" - I gestured to my ratty pajamas - "to breakfast?"

He quirked an eyebrow at me before he went to his trunk and began digging. "No. I expect you to wear _this_." He tossed me a pair of sweatpants and a Puddlemere United hoodie.

I wrinkled my nose as I held the pants up to my waist. "You do realize these are going to be about two sizes too big for me, right?"

"Well, it's either that or nothing. And while I wouldn't mind the latter option, I think you should go with the first." He turned around and began rummaging in his trunk again to find something for himself to wear.

"Oliver Wood, you did _not_ just say that." I crumpled the pants up into a ball and lobbed them at his head.

Half hoping he would turn around and kiss me, I was disappointed when he didn't even look at me as he ordered, "You're not leaving. Get dressed."

Just like a two-year-old, I crossed my arms and jutted my bottom lip out as far as it would go. "Fine, but you're closing your eyes. And if you so much as move an _eyelash_, I'm hexing you into oblivion."

Oliver stood up, the pants and his own clothes in his hands, and crossed the room towards me. "Good morning to you too, love," he said as he thrust the pants back into my hands. I grimaced.

Oliver barely left me alone that day. At breakfast, he held my hand so tightly it was painful, and his grip only strengthened with every word spoken. Apparently, the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, had visited Hogwarts the previous night, closley followed by Lucius Malfoy who had presented Dumbledore with an order of suspension signed by the school governors. Not to mention, Hagrid, the gamekeeper, had been taken to Azkaban for supposedly being behind all the attacks (which Harry swore was utter rubbish). Under normal circumstances, this all would've caused panic in the school, but with the attacks, it triggered mass chaos. People didn't even _laugh_ anymore as they hurried through the halls to their classes, still escorted by the teachers. Because of this, Oliver was unable to trail me between my classes, as he had his own to tend to, but the moment he was able to be at my side, he was there. If I hadn't been any wiser, I would've thought he had Apparated.

Promptly after dinner, the common room was packed with each and every Gryffindor, as the rule still stood that no student was to leave his or her dormitory after six in the evening. There were no free chairs, so Oliver, Alicia, Angelina, the twins, and I had forced our way to a corner of the room and sat on the floor. Once again, Oliver held me so tight, it hurt. I tried to pry his arm from my shoulder, but he didn't move.

"Look, I understand you're worried and all, but really, Oliver, give it a rest!" He glared at me, though he did slacken his grip a little.

"She's right, Oliver," Angelina pointed out. "I mean, everyone's already stressed out enough as it is. No need to make it worse."

Fred felt it necessary to chime in, "Besides, mate, what are you going to do? Take on Slytherin's monster yourself?"

I could just see it: Oliver bursting into the Chamber of Secrets, whalloping Bludgers left and right with reckless abandon.

"Don't give him any ideas," I warned.

It was well past midnight when people finally began heading to bed. Alicia had already nodded off and Angelina had to help her upstairs. Fred and George had made their way over to where Harry and Ron were still discussing the previous night's events. This meant Oliver and I were as alone as it was possible to be in the steadily emptying, but still crowded common room.

After waking with a start twice from Oliver's shoulder, I decided it was time for bed. I yawned, stretched, then headed to the girls' dormitory. Just as I raised my foot to take the first step, Oliver caught me around the waist.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked through taut lips.

"To bed. That's what _normal_ people do at this time." I tried to take another step; he tugged me back again.

"Not alone, you aren't. You're coming with me." He attempted to pull me towards the boys' dormitory with him.

"Are you mad?" I accused, finally straining away from him. "Last night had its reasons, what with me being unconscious and all, but this is just going to look downright suspicious. Would you give it a break already?"

The look on his face made clear the answer he didn't say.

Slowly - so slowly it's a wonder he didn't run into me - I trudged up to the boys' dormitory. We stopped at the door and I prodded him hard in the chest. "You'd better hope no one finds out I'm in here again, or you're going to have to sleep with one eye open for the rest of term."

He opened to door for me and said matter-of-factly, "Don't worry. I intend to do just that."

_I awoke to a knock at the door of Oliver's dorm and when he didn't wake up to answer it, I rose out of bed myself. As much as I strained to make out the voice on the other side of the door, I couldn't, so after a minute of incessant pounding, I hesitantly opened the door. Cornelius Fudge stood there, several other men behind him, and they were all glaring at me condescendingly._

_"We know you've been spending the night with Oliver Wood, Miss Bell, and we must ask you to leave immediately," the Minister said as he presented me with a roll of parchment. "This is an order of suspension. You are to be sent into oblivion for the rest of term and are forbidden to see Mr. Wood ever again."_

_Full of disbelief, I grabbed the parchment from his hands and stared at it in horror. Just as I looked up to begin (very profanely) arguing my case, Fudge turned to stone. Then, I heard deep, hot breaths behind me, practically down the back of my neck. With great fear, I slammed my eyes shut as I slowly revolved on the spot to face the source of the noise. The breathing grew heavier, then I slowly opened my eyes and -_

The red canopy of Oliver's bed stared down at me. It was hot - so hot I was sweating. The need to rip the sheets off of me was unbearable, so I turned to see if Oliver was asleep as to not bother him. But he wasn't there.

I sat up, the tenor of my nightmare still fresh in my mind, and frantically looked around the room. It was a few seconds before the spot I had been staring at materialized into the shape of a boy at the foot of the bed, staring right back at me from a chair.

"Oliver!" I yelped. Worried I had woken the rest of the dorm up, I glanced around quickly, but no one moved; the boys' snores only faltered the slightest bit. Oliver didn't flinch. He didn't even blink.

As quietly as possible, I crawled out from under the sheets and down towards the edge of the bed. Oliver still didn't budge. When I was right in front of his face - as close as I could be without falling off the bed - I said, "Oliver?"

His eyes were still blank and staring, gazing right at me, but not seeing me at all.

"Oliver?" I repeated, and I waved my hand in front of his face.

"BLUDGER!" he yelled all of the sudden.

Not only had he jumped about a foot off his chair, but the sheer abruptness of it all caused me to fall off the bed (this time, completely) with a loud thump. We both froze, sure our ruckus had woken someone up, and sure enough, a few seconds later came the drawling voice of Percy Weasley saying, "Oliver, stop having Quidditch dreams and go back to bed." I waited a moment before I rounded on Oliver.

"What in the _bloody hell_ do you think you're doing?" I shot under my breath as I climbed back on to the bed to be on his level.

Oliver shrugged, untouched by my remark. "I told you. I was going to sleep with my eyes open."

"Yeah, well, I didn't think I'd have to take you quite so literally!" I muttered in exasperation.

"I'm not taking my eyes off you. I'm a keeper, it's my _duty_ to defend." Then, as if to stress his point, he crossed his arms roughly across his chest.

I rolled my eyes. "Well, sitting at the foot of the bed, staring at me as I sleep isn't protecting me. It's just creepy. And you're just being melodramatic. So do me, and yourself, a favor and come here," I ordered as I grabbed the collar of his shirt. He climbed right up over the edge of the bed with ease but when he stretched out his hand to pull the covers back, I blocked him.

"Hold it, Captain" I demanded as I grabbed his wrist. He look at me imploringly. "I know it's your bed and all, but you're little stunt just earned you a sheet separation." Wriggling myself as tightly as I could into his sheets, I smoothed them out next to me and motioned for him to lay down. He groaned quietly, but obeyed, just not before he got as close to me as possible and held me so tight it was hard to breathe properly. Again.

"Is _this_ creepy?" he asked before he nuzzled into my neck.

I sighed as his warm breath tickled my skin. "No. You can defend me all you want like this." And I nestled further into him.

I had hoped Oliver's insanity had come to an end, which it seemingly had for a few days, but all too soon my hopes vanished and he was back to his over-protective, grumpy, Quidditch-deprived self. Every night - after six, of course - would find us squished into some uncomfortable corner or another of the Gryffindor common room. If the situation hadn't been so serious, it would have been annoying, but better to have a cramped thigh than to be dead.

"I wish they'd find the Heir of Slytherin already," Fred moaned one particularly crowded night. "Percy's no fun to pick on since that Ravenclaw prefect got attacked. And I'm getting sick of sitting on the floor."

"Yeah," George agreed. "I don't see why they teach us rubbish like History of Magic. We should be learning important things like how to conjure up more armchairs."

"You could go to bed you know," I spat. All the complaining and the lack of sunlight, laughter, and Oliver these days put me in a horrible mood.

Fred looked at me, aghast. "Now, why would we do that, Miss Bell?"

"Because you're being whiny, little babies and getting on my nerves."

The twins glanced at Angelina and Alicia for support, but they said nothing.

"Well, fine," Fred said. "Since we're obviously not wanted here-"

"-We'll go play Exploding Snap with our dear brother," George finished. He locked an arm around his twin and plowed through the crowd towards Harry and Ron, who had both been lucky enough to have nabbed armchairs.

Too irritated to talk, I sat smothered by Oliver in his lap, and listened to Alicia give Angelina beauty advice. After about two hours of hair potions and makeup charms, Oliver interrupted.

"Would you just shut up already?" he bellowed.

Alicia froze mid-sentence and turn to face him, as did Angelina and I.

"Excuse me?" Alicia said with raised eyebrows, daring him to go further. And, of course, Oliver - being the blundering idiot he was - did.

"I've had enough about makeup this and charm that. You think I care how to curl my hair or put on eyeliner?"

"No one said you had to sit here, Wood."

"No one said you had to, either, Spinnet."

She glared at him for a moment, and just when I was positive she was going to smack him, she stood up.

"Fine, then if you don't mind, I'm going to bed." She stormed up the stairs and out of sight. Angelina looked at us, disappointment etched in her eyes.

"Look, Wood. I know the lack of Quidditch is taking its toll on you and everything, but the least you could do is show your team some respect." Then without another word, she rose and followed in Alicia's footsteps.

Taking advantage of the vacated space, I pushed away from Oliver and sat as far from him as possible. "Way to go, Captain. You just chased away all our friends."

"Me?" His eyes were almost bulging. "I'm not the one that _ordered_ Fred and George away."

"Yeah, but you _are_ the one that's completely mental. Seriously, Wood, it's only a sport."

Even before I'd said it, I knew I'd hit below the belt. With a Bludger. "_Only a sport!_"

Just because I knew it was low of me, didn't mean I wouldn't continue. "You heard me. Quidditch is only a stupid _game_."

Oliver crossed his arms and scowled at me. "Quidditch has done more for me than you ever could."

Anger bubbled in me like acid, and every insult imaginable threatened to spew from my mouth, and for some unmerlinly reason, I was able to hold them back.

"I'm done talking to you, Wood," I said simply. He only shrugged dismissively.

Hours passed and neither of us said a word to the other, and no other Gryffindor dared to say a word to us. I contented myself with watching George, Fred, Harry, and Ron play Exploding Snap from afar. Harry and Ron lost every single time and soon I found myself thinking of the plays they should have made and groaning internally when they messed up. It was almost like they were _trying_ to lose. After a while, I grew frustrated with their poor strategy, and seemingly so did Ginny, the youngest Weasley, as she was looking very antsy in one of the chairs nearby as she watched the twins suggest game after game. Her obvious unease, and Oliver's heated silence, sent my aggravation on edge again.

"I'm going to bed," I declared when I couldn't take it any longer. And it wasn't that I was really tired, I just needed to be alone before I bit someone else's head off. I didn't need to look to know that Oliver had gotten up from the floor after me. His heavy thudding footsteps pounded in my ears and without even resisting, I headed up to the boys' dorm. He opened the door for me and I casted one last yearning look at my dormitory and woefully thought of the wonderful nights' sleep that could have been. When I turned back to head inside Oliver's dormitory, I noticed he was still glaring at me.

I sighed. "At least you can't talk in your sleep."

**Brace yourself for the next chapter! And if you review, I promise it'll make my day :)**


	23. Doomed

**Ahh, and here we are. Chapter 23. Things are about to get intense. Intensely aggravating, intensely cute, intensely dramatic, and just plain old intense. You'll find pretty much everything in this chapter, including the winners of my contest, TwiHard24 and Purple Painted Toenails! Look out for your names, guys! On to some reviewer appreciation:**

**XritaskeeterhatersX - Yeah, Oliver is annoying, but it had to be done. That's who he is, at least in my story. I'm so flattered that you like the way he's written! I pride myself on making him imperfect, because I'm honestly sick of perfect boyfriend archetypes. **

**Purple Painted Toenails - If I'm correct, I already replied to your review in a PM, but I'll acknowledge you again here just so you can brag about it (because I'm just that famous and it's such an honor. Not). Just like with XritaskeeterhatersX, I'm glad you find his nasty overprotectiveness in character for him :)**

**luverofjamesandlily - You're such a faithful reviewer, so here's me updating for you!**

**And last but not least, kraney - Silly email. Oh, and your wish is my command. Kind of ;)**

**Credit to JKR for the quotes taken from **_**Chamber of Secrets**_** and Jarvis Cocker for the lyrics to "Magic Works."**

**CHAPTER 23 - DOOMED**

Things weren't getting worse, but they certainly weren't getting any better. I hardly talked to Oliver since the night we'd fought, and as he hadn't shown any signs of _wanting_ to talk to me, I didn't think this was going to change soon. Oliver, however, _did_ still talk to Alicia. Unfortunately. She hadn't forgiven him for blowing up at her and most days would find them at each others' throats. The twins didn't care and had forgiven us both (they were quite used to being yelled at) but it was never too long before Oliver or I would get fed up with them and we'd end up at square one.

And to make everything worse, it had been announced that exams were still taking place.

With all the attacks and all the fights and general animosity these days, my grades had been slipping. Schoolwork had always been a priority, but life seemed to trump that these days. Besides, what good would twelves O.W.L.s do you if you were dead? Okay, so maybe you could still teach History of Magic, but really, that was a rhetorical question.

Yes, things didn't seem to be looking up at all until one day at breakfast, there was a small glimmer of hope:

"I have good news," Professor McGonagall began, but before she could continue, the Great Hall bursted into an uproar.

Quite a few people hopefully yelled, "Dumbledore's coming back!"

Another girl at the Ravenclaw table said, "You've caught the Heir of Slytherin!"

Both of those instances would have been utterly_ fabulous_, and I waited to hear McGonagall confirm one of those suspicions, but of course, Wood had to open his big, fat mouth:

"Quidditch matches are back on!"

No one answered him (or even shared his sentiments) and although I missed Quidditch as well, I couldn't help feeling vindictively pleased at his sadness.

When the room finally quieted down, McGonagall persisted, "Professor Sprout has informed me that the Mandrakes are ready for cutting at last. Tonight, we will be able to revive those people who have been Petrified. I need hardly remind you all that one of them may well be able to tell us who, or what, attacked them. I am hopeful that this dreadful year will end with our catching the culprit."

Before she'd even finished speaking, the room erupted into cheers and applause.

Finally, _finally_, it was going to be over. I sighed and closed my eyes contentedly while everyone around me clapped louder. Everyone except for one person.

"That's _it_? What about Quidditch?"

_Dear Mother of Merlin._

"What do you mean, 'that's it?'" I accused incredulously. "Catching the Heir of Slytherin isn't enough for the Great Oliver Wood?"

It was only when he shook his head sheepishly that I realized my voice was raised. "No," he said, "it is, it's just that-"

"Just _what_? Who really cares if Muggle-borns die, just as long as Oliver Wood gets to play a stupid game?"

"Quidditch is _not _a stupid game!" he bellowed.

Angelina leaned towards us and tried to calm us down. "Don't do this here," she pleaded. Needless to say, her attempts were unsuccessful.

My teeth ground against each other as I tried to form my feelings into words that wouldn't get me thrown out of school. "WOOD! People could _die_! Are you telling me you honestly don't care? Are you really _that _insensitive?"

Oliver went red in the face and a vein in his neck was throbbing murderously. "Katie, you're mental! Of course I care! But, these attacks have been going on for months now, and we're no closer to finding out who the Heir of Slytherin is than to passing History of Magic! So if we're going to have to live in terror, we might as well play Quidditch! I don't see what the big deal is!"

Part of me realized Angelina was holding me back but most of me went into shock. My voice dropped to a whisper. "So you're saying you love Quidditch more."

Oliver sighed in relief and smiled lightly as he said, "Of course I love Quidditch."

That was the end of my control.

"Well, fine!" I yelled as I stood up. " I'll just go pitch myself off the Astronomy Tower and make it easier for you, then! Since you obviously don't care, you callous jerk!" I ran from the room, wondering how dramatic my exit would have been had the rest of the Great Hall finished cheering and noticed it.

Without even thinking of where I was headed, I sprinted up to Gryffindor Tower. I was too upset to make it up the stairs to the dormitories, so I threw myself on the couch right in the common room and began to sob. Several older students stared, but I didn't care. Today's classes didn't seem to matter much anymore either.

So Oliver didn't care about anyone or anything else but Quidditch. I should have seen that one coming. I should have known his concern for me was just out of concern for a chaser, not a girlfriend. That's not to say he didn't like me, but when it came down to life and death, all that mattered to him was Quidditch. Heaven forbid I die and he has to find a replacement chaser.

People meandered in and out of the common room and after a while, I stopped even noticing who they were. After what seemed like hours, I stopped crying, but I refused to so much as look up from the floor; I was too afraid to see who would be looking back at me when I did. It was dark before anyone even tried to talk to me.

"Katie," Oliver's voice begged from somewhere nearby. I shook my head. "Katie."

"Leave me alone."

"No. Listen to me."

"No. Leave me alone, Wood."

"You don't understand, I just -"

"No, you don't understand!" Tears threatened to burst through once more, so I balled my hands into fists and tried to hold them back and speak calmly. "All you ever cared about was Quidditch. So why'd you ever bother?"

"Bother with what?" He sounded genuinely taken aback, but to be sure, I finally looked up. And despite my will power, gravity forced the tears out of me.

"Me. If all you ever cared about was Quidditch, then why did you ever bother with me?"

His brow furrowed, but otherwise his expression didn't change as he tried to place an arm around me. I shot out my hand to stop him.

"Katie, what are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about how you care about Quidditch more than me. It's obvious. I was so stupid to think otherwise."

Pain, not anger, shot across Oliver's features. "Is that what you think?"

I shrugged and tried to play off like I didn't care, but the tears were still free falling. "Why else? You obviously care more about me as a chaser than as a person."

"Oh."

"See? You're not even going to defend yourself."

I didn't stop him when he tried to put his arms around me this time.

"So you think that I've gone through all this trouble of keeping you safe just because I cared about winning some stupid game?"

"Yes, I -" _Wait a second._ "Stupid game?"

"Katie, I'm too much of an idiot to notice when I'm going insane. I thought you of all people would understand that lack of Quidditch does that to me. I miss Quidditch, but I'd miss you more."

I started sobbing again, just to get it all out, though this time, the tears were more out of relief than anything else. "You mean it?"

"Whether you forgive me or not."

"Did Angelina tell you to say that?"

"No, actually, but how did you know she talked to me earlier?"

I giggled, but it sounded more like I was choking. "Because that's what Angelina does. And you needed someone to knock some sense into you."

"Consider me a changed man, then." He inclined his head to kiss me but I pulled away and placed a finger on his lips.

"Under one condition."

He gulped but said nothing.

"You have _got_ to relax when it comes to protecting me. The whole knight in shining armor thing is getting old. Don't get me wrong, I'm flattered you're so concerned, but there's a thing called personal space, and I'm in desperate need of it."

"It's a deal." He leaned down again towards me, but when his lips were an inch from mine, I turned my head to the side and his lips brushed my cheek.

"Don't think you're getting off that easy."

Oliver rolled his eyes and made a face, but otherwise seemed to have accepted my challenge. "All right, well, I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted." He grasped my hand, stood up, and tried to pull me with him towards the dormitories, but I didn't move.

"Geez, Oliver, before dinner? Does ickle Olliekins still have a bedtime?"

He looked at me concernedly. "Katie, you missed dinner. It's almost midnight."

I looked around the room finally and sure enough, it was packed to the walls with Gryffindors, most of which had already begun heading up to bed.

"Oh. I knew that."

Oliver smirked. "Right. Next time you have a meltdown, can you have it earlier in the day? This is like, what, the third time you've wasted the day away, locked up in here, crying? We've got to stop doing this."

I punched him lightly in the arm. "Well, I wouldn't be up so late crying if it didn't take a certain Quidditch Captain of mine so bloody long to figure out what the problem is."

He pursed his lips and scrutinized me for a moment, then he smiled and linked his arm with mine to drag me up the spiral staircase to the sixth year boys' dormitory.

"Tell me about your family," I insisted once we were under the covers. Oliver was lying on his back with his arms behind his head and I was splayed across his stomach. He was wearing his Quaffle shirt again and I, unable to fetch my own pajamas from my room, was again doomed to a shirt of Oliver's. Though now, I had to admit, I didn't mind.

"Hmm, well, there's my dad, Reginald, but if you call him that you'll end up with a Bludger to the head, so everyone calls him Reggie. He was a beater back in his Hogwarts days, but he never did play professionally. Uncle Ragmar is his half-brother. They grew up playing together and my dad saw what professional Quidditch did to Rag's career, so he stayed clear of it. He used to help Rag out every now and then, but he stopped when he realized the Cannons weren't getting any better. One good thing did come out of it though: he met my mum."

"Ah, so that must be where you got your dashing good looks from," I mused as I stroked his cheek. His cheeks burned red under my touch.

"No, I think it's safe to say I get my gentlemanly charm from my dad." He looked away from me and smiled embarrassedly. "My mum would be responsible for - if you like what you see, I suppose you should thank her."

"Remind me when I meet her. Which brings us back to your dad. How did they meet?"

"My mum, Julie, used to play chaser for Pride of Portree." He leaned over the bed to rummage in the drawer of his bedside table for something. When he pulled back, he held a photograph in his hand of a tall woman in deep purple robes and a broom in her hand. She had long chestnut hair that was blowing in the wind like she was in some sort of Muggle hair commercial. Her face was rather soft, but her features were still very striking. I could definitely see Oliver's visage in her own: the eyebrows, the nose, the small smirk that tugged at the corner of her lips. She smiled back at us with glittering aquamarine eyes that were the same shape as Oliver's.

"Wow."

"Dad was still helping Uncle Rag when the Cannons played the Prides in '72. He claims all it took was one look."

"I can see why. She's beautiful."

He chuckled and it rumbled in his chest beneath my head. "She quit Quidditch for him. She said she was out of her prime anyway and felt it was her time to go. He moved to Scotland for her."

"That's so sweet."

"Yeah." He pushed himself up and placed the picture on his nightstand. "Dad always joked her looks were what pulled him in but it was her cooking that kept him around."

"She's a good cook?"

"She's my mum, so she's automatically the best cook no matter what. But yes, she's a good cook. She makes a mean casserole."

"Then once I thank her for passing on her looks, remind me to request that for dinner."

"Will do." He waited a moment before continuing, "And then there's my sister."

That caught me off guard. I sat up to look at him. "You have a sister?"

He smiled again, this time more radiantly. "Yeah, Olivia. She's seven. We call her Liv, though. Call her anything else and she'll send a Bludger after you, just like Dad."

"Ah, so she's going to grow up to be a Quidditch player, I see?"

His smiled widened even further. "The best. She wants to be a keeper and... and she says it's because she wants to be like me. But she's way better. She's only seven and she can block as many Quaffles as I can. Just you wait until she gets into Hogwarts! Bet you anything she'll make the team her first year and steal Harry's place as the youngest player."

"You love her so much," I said. He nodded.

"I can't wait for you to meet her."

"I can't wait either. Is there anyone else you're hiding from me?"

Oliver stared at me for a moment and his smile faded the tiniest bit before he firmly said, "No."

"Well, darn. I was hoping this amazing family was bigger."

Oliver laughed and at first it sounded nervous but then it grew more relaxed. "What? You think it's not already crowded enough with four huge Quidditch egos under one roof?"

I giggled. "I'll let you know when I-" but the rest of my sentence was drowned out by a large yawn.

"And fatigue finally rears its ugly head."

I snuggled in closer to him and I yawned again. "Unfortunately. It was nice just talking to you. Especially a you that's not freaking out every single second."

"Same to you, Miss Bell." I felt his arms entwine themselves around me and his lips press into my hair. Minutes passed and since I was on the verge of slip, it was only when I felt the vibrations in his chest that I realized he was singing. Or rather, trying to sing.

"What are you doing?" I drawled, my voice heavy with exhaustion.

"I'm singing you to sleep," he answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"With 'Do the Hippogriff?' Really?"

"Well, fine. If you don't approve then I guess I'll just st-"

"No, keep going."

He stayed silent for a few seconds before he started up again, this time with a different song.

_Yeah, it's hard, you must be brave,_

_Don't let this moment slip away,_

_Believe that magic works,_

_Don't be afraid of getting hurt,_

_Don't let this magic die,_

_The answer's there, yeah_

_Just look in her eyes_

"That's more like it," I mumbled, though I probably wasn't coherent enough for him to understand.

I woke up, tangled in the sheets only to find Oliver was not there. I propped myself up and peered around the room, glaring through the sunlight, and saw him walking back from the bathroom with fresh clothes on and beads of water dripping from his hair.

"Good morning," he greeted as he bent down to kiss the top of my head.

"'Morning," I mumbled as I sat up. "What time is it?"

"Seven. I already ran into George and he said everyone was heading down to breakfast at eight, so you can take your time getting ready. Or you can go back to sleep. I'll wake you up later."

I ran a hand through my hair and pulled the covers off. "No, that's okay. I need to shower. There's no way I'm going through a full day of classes looking like this." I pointed at the haystack of hair sitting atop my head.

He nodded. "You go ahead. I'll clean up a bit and we can leave when you're ready."

The perfect, almost-too-hot water in the shower both woke me up and threatened to put me to sleep, but when I was done, I felt refreshed and at least somewhat ready to face the day. Oliver had made his bed (which meant the sheets were just flopped back over) and picked up some of his robes (which meant he tossed them haphazardly into his trunk) and was ready to leave the moment I was.

Breakfast was far more peaceful than it had been in weeks.

"Glad to see you're not raving, anymore Wood," Fred remarked as he ate his way through a whole _second_ plate of sausages. "You too, Katie."

"Yeah, well, you know how it is," Oliver replied. "Sometimes you just need some sense knocked into you." I glanced at Angelina and she winked back at me. I mouthed the word, 'thanks.'

"Looks like someone else could use a good sense-knocking." George said as he looked down the Gryffindor table.

"What are you talking about?" Fred asked as he followed his twin's gaze.

"Ginny," George said. "Look at her." I peered down the table as well and there was the youngest Weasley, sitting across from Harry and Ron, looking positively terrified as she trembled from her flaming hair to her toes.

"Oh, and here comes our dear prefect brother!" Fred announced as he pointed towards Percy who made a beeline for Ginny, Harry, and Ron. At his arrival, Ginny jumped up from her seat and hurried from the room, only to be replaced by Percy, whose cheeks were quickly turning a deep shade of red that clashed horribly with his hair. What odd behavior from the both of them.

George brought me out of my reverie. "And to think we, so normal and sane, are related to people that strange? I can hardly believe it, Fred, can you?"

"George, I agree wholeheartedly. At least Mother was blessed with two normal children such as ourselves."

Angelina rolled her eyes. "Says the weirdest one of the bunch."

"I don't know," Alicia chimed in. "I think it's safe I have the weirder twin."

"Hey!" Fred objected. "I'm weirder!"

George shook his head. "No, Fred. You're just as equally weird as I am. No point in fighting it."

"And they finally admit it," Oliver laughed. We finished the rest of the meal with the Weasley twins cracking an occasional joke, trying to one up each other.

It had been one of the best days in recent time, even with Dumbledore gone and the Heir of Slytherin still on the loose, but I should have known things couldn't stay perfect for long. I was halfway through my Herbology lesson when it happened. Professor McGonagall's voice rang through the grounds:

"_All students to return to their House dormitories at once. All teachers return to the staff room. Immediately, please._"

The entire class froze and looked up at Professor Sprout, whose eyes were round and bulging, and whose color was quickly draining from her cheeks.

She cleared her throat once before she announced, "Everyone follow me and try to stay calm!" The room exploded into panic. Angelina and Alicia were immediately at my side.

"What do you think happened," Alicia whimpered as she latched onto my arm.

"I don't know," I answered as the three of us squeezed through the too-tight door. "How could it possibly be worse?"

Angelina was the one to reply. "You don't think-" She swallowed. "You don't think... someone's..."

All we could do was look at her; there was no good answer to give.

"Gryffindors, up you go, and stay together!" Professor Sprout commanded as we neared the staircase that led to Gryffindor Tower. "Hufflepuffs, follow me!"

Students filtered in from every passageway and forced themselves up the staircase that was far too narrow for all of us. Feet trampled on the feet of others and treaded on the hems of robes. The only reason no one fell down was because of the sheer mass of the crowd: it was simply too cramped to fall. We were shepherded inside the common room, where once again, we had to stand for lack of room. Alicia quickly found the Weasley twins whom we'd lost in the exodus from Herbology. I looked around the room several times, but Oliver wasn't there yet. Worry had not seized me, yet: students were still flooding through the portrait hole.

Oliver was one of the last in the room, followed closely by Professor McGonagall, and he headed straight for me but froze when McGonagall began to speak.

"The Heir of Slytherin has struck again, only this time, the monster has - has taken a student into the Chamber itself." She opened her mouth again, but no sound came out. No one spoke as we waited for her to regain her voice. "The Hogwarts Express will arrive early tomorrow morning and you will be sent home. Pack tonight so you are ready to depart first thing tomorrow. You are not to leave this tower until I tell you otherwise." She did not continue.

Students of every age began shouting the same question: "Who is it?"

McGonagall did not answer as she began fighting her way through the crowd, making her way towards our group. Oliver followed at her heels.

Her face was grave as she said, "Mr. Weasley, Mr. Weasley, follow me please."

At first, neither twin moved or spoke, but after her words sank in, they followed silently as Professor McGonagall walked towards Percy. I watched as he reacted to her words just like the twins had. My eyes roamed the room, searching for a hint of red hair, and soon I found Ron fast approaching his family with Harry at his side. I only counted four heads of red hair; there should have been five.

"It's Ginny," I moaned and I was only vaguely aware of strong arms that were crushing me into someone's chest. I heard a gasp and not long after, frantic whispers broke out across the room as McGonagall's words spread through the crowd like a disease. I watched as McGonagall left the room with a grim-looking Percy at her side, leaving Fred, George, and Ron in a corner where they sat in silence.

No one spoke much that night. Oliver had been pacing for hours, ever since McGonagall had left, his face fierce and calculating. Angelina and Alicia sat on either side of me, just staring at the floor. I watched the Weasleys from afar - around sunset, Fred and George headed up to bed, following in Percy's footsteps. He'd shut himself up in his dormitory the moment he'd returned to Gryffindor Tower, dropped off by McGonagall at the portrait hole. Not long after the twins' departure, I saw Harry and Ron rise and make their way through to the portrait hole. No one even tried to stop them as they climbed through.

The sun had dropped far below the horizon now and most of the Gryffindors had gone to bed for lack of anything else to do. Those who were still awake stayed silent. Alicia had nodded off on Angelina's shoulder and Oliver was still pacing back and forth. I was so entranced as watched his feet about-face once more that I didn't even notice he had come to a halt right in front of me. He glared down at me with fire in his eyes and no color in his complexion.

"We need to leave," was all he said.

**Wow, that was long! Remember, this could be the penultimate chapter so review while you can! Thanks for reading :)**


	24. Collapse

**Goodness gracious, sorry that took me so long. I've had bits of it written for ages, but I just transferred to a new college last month and I've been super busy. Unlike my old college, we have a marching band, so I joined and we have practice every day from 3:00 until 6:00, and I also have classes from 8:30 until then. By the time I'm done with school, I'm exhausted and it's time for homework, a shower, and bed. However, band is only one semester, so come sometime in November or so, I'll have much more free time on my hands. Besides, one perk of being in the BGSU marching band is that we get to travel to University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, which - if you don't know - is the home to A Very Potter Musical. SO EXCITED.**

**Anyways, this is the second to last chapter. I had planned for it to be the last, but it just got so long, so I decided to give you guys a nice cliffhanger ending. As for reviews and such, thank you to XritaskeeterhatersX, Purple Painted Toenails, TwiHard24 (of course his dad is attractive, HE'S OLIVER WOOD!), luverofjamesandlily, and kraney. This one is for you :)**

**CHAPTER 24 - COLLAPSE**

"What?"

Oliver's fiery expression didn't falter as he repeated himself. "We need to leave."

Nothing was making sense so I continued to stare at him blankly. "I don't understand wh-"

"We have to get out of here. Tonight." His eyes looked in danger of popping out of his head. "Did you _hear_ McGonagall? A girl has been taken _into_ the Chamber of Secrets! What if it had been you? What if it still could be? What if you - we need to run away!"

_Oh, Merlin, no._ "_Please_ tell me you're not saying what I think you're saying." I felt Alicia stir beside me and without having to look, I knew Angelina was watching Oliver just as intently as I was.

"Katie, you don't know what's going to happen! Who's to say the Heir of Slytherin or the monster isn't in this very room, right now? We can't wait for tomorrow, not if there's a possibility you could -" he gulped "-I won't risk it!"

"Oliver, have you lost your Gobstones? We're only _teenagers_!" Furiously, I shoved myself up from the floor so I was eye to eye with him. I stabbed my finger into his chest and accused, "You're only sixteen! And I'm only fifteen! Where do you suggest we go? What do you suggest we do? We have no money, no place to go, and we're in the middle of nowhere!"

Agony filled his eyes as he forcefully grasped my shoulders. "Well, we have to go somewhere! We can worry about it later, figure it out as we go! All I know is, I can't lose you - I love you too much for that! We just have to get out of here tonight! Please," he begged, "just listen to me, we'll fly away somewhere, anywhere but here." His hands travelled down to mine and clutched them desperately. "We can go to my house or - or Uncle Rag's house, no one ever visits him! Or hell, we can go live in a cave! Just, come on, we have to go!"

He tugged me towards the staircase that led to the dormitories but I stay rooted on the spot because one word he had spoken had drowned out all the others.

"Did you just say you loved me?"

Oliver slurred into a string of profanities as he continued his attempts to drag me upstairs; I still refused to move.

"Did you just say you loved me?" I asked again. Oliver didn't hear me, or rather, he ignored me as he urgently tried to pull me forward.

"Bloody shit, Katie, move! We have to go!"

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I wondered where he'd learned such a ridiculous phrase ("Bloody shit," really?) but I was still mostly focused on what he'd said earlier. Feet still glued to the floor, I repeated myself. "Did you just say you loved me?"

Again, he ignored my query. "Fine, if you won't move, then I'm going to go pack for you! Don't you _dare_ leave!" He let go and ran for the spiral staircase to the girls' dormitories. Halfway up, the steps smoothed into a slide and I watched with wide eyes as he slid back down.

"Oliver, you are completely insane!" I howled. Before I had even finished my accusation, he was by my side.

"Katie, listen to me. You have exactly three minutes to gather whatever you need. No more, no less. Grab your broom and whatever else. I'll be waiting outside your window." Without even waiting for an answer or reaction, he turned and darted up the stairs to the boys' dormitories.

"But my broom's in the broom cupboard in the locker rooms!" I yelled after him.

His voice echoed down the stone walls as he replied, "Then you're riding with me. Now, GO!"

Torn, I looked down at Angelina and Alicia for help, but their blank stares did nothing for me. My breath caught in my throat and I ran up the stairs to my dorm. Once inside, I just stood in the middle of the room, my mind too clouded to think clearly.

I couldn't believe this was happening.

Sure, I'd faced a lot this year - more than I'd experienced in all my previous years at Hogwarts - but this was the most ludicrous yet. How could running away on our own into a world of dangers be any safer than staying here one more night? As far as we knew, there was only one danger at Hogwarts. We knew nothing of the real world. We were only teenagers; I'd only just learned Summoning Charms last Thursday!

What if we got lost and never found our way home? What if... what if something happened and we didn't come back?

A surge of emotion travelled up through my chest and lodged itself somewhere in my throat. Tears swelled in my eyes as I glanced around the room and reminisced. This was the room where Oliver first tried to tell me how he felt, the room in which I'd truly become friends with Angelina and Alicia, the room that had been my sanctuary throughout the years. And then there was the common room and all of the late night breakdowns that had taken place with George, Oliver, Angelina, everyone. And the Great Hall, and Oliver's dormitory, and the Quidditch pitch.

I thought of the twins and how they must feel as they lay, probably still wide awake, in their beds. I thought of Angelina and Alicia downstairs, and longed to know whether they would - or_ could_ - do anything to stop Oliver from leaving. I thought of Ginny Weasley and Percy, and Ron and Harry, wherever they had run off to.

Three sharp raps on the window brought me out of my reverie and I looked around to see Oliver's shape behind the glass, hovering on his broom.

I'd run out of time. _And I wouldn't even get the chance to say goodbye._

Overcome with feeling, I stared at his bobbing form and tried to blink back the tears that had begun to fall freely.

"Katie, come on, it's time to go!" Oliver yelled from outside.

I walked to the window and opened my mouth to take a deep breath and a single, strangled sob escaped. _This was it._ Uncontrollable gasps rocked through me as I cracked the window open to get to Oliver. With a horrible lurch of recognition, the same sick feeling from earlier in the week seized me, but I didn't have time for that now. I braced myself up against the window frame and started to push myself up when I felt Oliver's strong hands force me back down. Frantic tears - whether from emotion or lack of air, I wasn't sure - blurred my vision as I looked up at him.

"W-what's wrong?" he stuttered as he carefully climbed into the room and steadied my shoulders.

I shook my head, which probably splattered him with tears, and tried to push him back towards the window. He didn't move.

"Don't worry," he murmured as he wiped the tears off my cheek with his thumb. I neither agreed nor protested. In one fluid movement, he crushed me to him and put his lips at my ear. "You don't have to be scared, Katie. I'm with you. I won't leave you. And we'll come back, I promise. I promise you we'll come back once it's safe."

It took me several steadying breaths before I could respond. "What if it's never safe?"

"Don't think like that. It will be," he vowed. One of his hands moved up my back and began stroking my hair. "And even if it's not, you'll be with me. And you should know you're always safe with me."

With a defeated understanding, I realized this was the best I could hope for. I nodded glumly and pulled away. "I'm ready. Let's go."

Oliver looked at me for a second, trying his best to keep calm, before he climbed back out the window and onto his broom. I casted one last sorrowful glance behind me before I followed after.

He hovered as close to the window as was physically possible and held tightly onto me as he helped me through. Then, grasping his waist with much more force than was necessary, I hoisted myself over the window sill and onto the broom behind him. The moment I was settled, he immediately sped off. I didn't look back at the castle as we sped away; I didn't need anymore painful reminders of what I was leaving behind. Instead, I focused on steadying my breaths and directed my thoughts towards safer avenues (though I couldn't stop myself from crying). The first thing I noticed was the ominous wall of bruise-colored clouds building on the horizon. Great. That's what I get for going to school in Scotland.

Slowly, thoughts of my family weaved their way into my brain, and I tried to think of how nice it would be to see them soon. Because I _would _be seeing them soon. I had to. And then, once I was safely home, I could contact Alicia and Angeilna because they would be safe and at home too. And so would the twins, unless Ginny -

A knot rose in my stomach, and an all too familiar wave of nausea threatened to overtake me. My breaths started coming in gasps again, but I tried to slow them down. I clenched Oliver's sides firmly, too firmly for comfort, but he did nothing to object. Like a plague, the thought of Ginny in the Chamber of Secrets wracked my brain and try as I might, I could not dispel it. Thinking of pleasanter things was a lost cause, so I leaned in as close as I could to Oliver and tried my best to think only of him. I concentrated on the smell of the wind as it bounced off his skin, the way his hair tickled my face as it blew around him, the low rumble of his voice as he spoke (I chose to ignore the actual vulgar words he was speaking).

Time was indiscernible as it passed and the first raindrops of the night began to fall. We could have been flying for hours or minutes and I wouldn't have been able to tell the difference. Regardless of whether we'd been flying for hours or not, Oliver had not said a word to me, too absorbed was he in where he was flying to be distracted. Soon enough, I began slipping into unconsciousness, something I welcomed with open arms. I was right on the edge of sleep, just about to escape the horrors of reality when-

"DAMN IT!"

We had stopped moving, only long enough for Oliver to swear several times and for me to realize it had begun to downpour. Then, without warning, he shot his broom forward so fast that the trees below us blurred, but we only travelled a few feet before we bounced back like we had hit a wall.

"Oliver, w-what's the matter?" I stuttered as he jerked his broom forward again. This time, he had used more speed and consequently, we rebounded further. He tried again.

"Oliver! What's-" He zoomed forward once more and I nearly lost my balance on the broom. The same thing happened.

"Ol-"

"We can't get through!" he shouted through the howling wind. "Something's blocking us!"

I could hear his enraged breaths and I swallowed very unsteadily, but I refused to give up. Everything was fine still, we simply just had to find another way. "Well, can't we just try a different angle?"

"You think I haven't thought of that already?" he spat. "What do you think I've been doing the past five minutes, acrobatics?" He whipped around to face me with wild eyes.

I recognized that look on his face; it was the one that meant he was losing it. Automatically, I cowered in fear. Normally, I would stand my ground against Oliver Wood (and I would win), but hundreds of feet up in the air, on his broom, I knew better. "N-no, it's just that, we haven't tried everything. I mean, can't we just-"

"NO!" he roared. "We can't! Katie, Hogwarts has countless protective charms around it. I have no idea how to break them, you have no idea how to break them. We can't leave! We're stuck!"

"But there must be another way," I whimpered.

"THERE ISN'T! WE'RE STUCK! WE'RE DONE! WE'RE DOOMED!"

My stomach began churning and little spots danced in front of my eyes. "Oliver, come to your senses! We can just turn around and wait for the train at Hogwarts. Nothing will happen to us there, I promise!"

"NO, WE CAN'T!" he cried. It rained harder and thunder crashed all around us.

I stared at him with wide eyes, too afraid to ask why not. He didn't need me to voice my thoughts anyways.

"We're lost," he said, void of any emotion. "I don't know which way the castle is."

Frantically, I turned to face the way we came, and unfortunately enough, he was right. Hogwarts was nowhere to be seen. All that was visible through the assailing rain was the clouds it came from. Nothing else. I couldn't even tell how high we were anymore. "Have you thought about just heading straight back?"

"Of course I have! I'm not stupid-"

"I never said you were-"

"-but we've been flying in circles for practically an hour Katie, that's why we're lost! There _is_ no 'straight back!' I told you, we're lost!"

I opened my mouth to assure him that there was still hope, that there was some way to get out of this, but no sound came. The angry wind rushed in my mouth and cut off my air, sending me into a frenzy of gasps. I clutched my my throat and then my stomach, sure that all of its contents were going to be expelled. The wind continued to rush around me and suddenly, it became very apparent how much the broom was shaking. I grew dizzy and the little spots in front of my eyes grew larger until they completely blacked out my vision. Strength drained from my fingers and left my arms and I felt Oliver's jumper being torn from my grasp. The last thing I heard was Oliver yelling again.

**OLIVER'S POINT OF VIEW**

I wouldn't have noticed anything (else) was wrong if she hadn't been holding on to me so tight. One minute she was arguing with me, squeezing my sides so much it hurt, then the next, just silence, just nothing. I turned around to look at her to make sure everything was okay and then I saw Katie slipping from the broom. Her eyes were closed and her head was slumped to the side as she tipped over. It was almost graceful, like her body knew she was flying, so it wasn't doing anything to save her. She was falling, and falling fast. I reached out, much farther than I've ever reached to block a goal, but I couldn't save her. Like a failed attempt to block, she slipped through my fingers towards the ground, unconscious and unknowing of what lay below.

For a second, all I could do was watch in terror, before reality set in and I sped as fast as I could to where she continued to drop. It was like a nightmare: I flew faster than I had to have ever flown in my entire life, but it just wasn't fast enough. Gravity had her in its clutches and she was speeding faster towards the ground than any Nimbus ever could.

"KATIE!" I yelled, over and over again, desperate to at least wake her up. Surely, things would be okay as long as she was awake. But she had to wake up first... "KATIE! _KATIE!"_

I couldn't see her anymore, not through the night, clouds, and rain. I just flew as fast as I could, straight toward the ground, and hoped for the best. Trees came into view and they were lashing at each other, like they were trying to win some sort of fight. Branches creaked in the wild wind and the ground grew closer; I had to be only fifty feet from it now. I was heading straight for a forest, a pitch black forest, that lined the grounds of...

I looked to my right. Hogwarts! It was there, it was close! All I needed to do was save Katie and -!

I heard a sharp crack directly beneath me and immediately focused again. If just for a split second, I saw her, splayed on the thick branch of a tree, teetering dangerously off the edge. She was still out cold. All it took was another gust of wind to blow her off.

So fast I was surprised I didn't drop it, I pulled out my wand and yelled the first spell that came to mind. "IMPEDIMENTA!"

Katie's body slowed, though did not halt, and fell slowly but surely to the forest floor. I raced in between the assaulting branches and finally saw her, crumpled on the ground. I was off my broom and at her side before I had even properly landed.

"Katie, _Katie_..." I begged as I slumped to my knees. She didn't move.

I didn't know what to do; Angelina was the one who wanted to be a Healer, not me. I didn't know any special spells or anything! All I knew was...

Quidditch!

I remembered reading about some Muggle techniques in Muggle Studies and immediately began racking my brain, frantic to think of some way to make sure she was okay. The first thing that came to mind was taking someone's pulse, but I couldn't remember how to do it. The only other thing I could recall was something about the "kiss of life." But how could a kiss save someone?

I could hear Katie now, had she been awake: "Oliver Wood, you imbecile, make up your mind already!" I stared down at her - she still hadn't moved. Okay, well, then a kiss it was.

Without closing my eyes, I slowly leaned down towards her, terrified of hurting her further. As I moved closer, I could make out all the tiny cuts and scratches on her deathly pale face. My lips had just connected with hers when I heard a rustle of leaves behind me.

"OLIVER WOOD!"

**Ahhh cliffhanger. One more chapter to go! I promise to have it done by this weekend. Then, remember, I need to take a break, but then it'll be time for the Prisoner of Azkaban compatible sequel! Review and stuff :)**


	25. Happy Endings

**This is it! The last chapter of Gravity - Chamber of Secrets. I'm pretty much in love with the ending, so I think you'll enjoy this chapter too. I can't wait to write the sequel! I'm not sure when that will be, but I think it's safe to say I won't be starting it until October (though don't quote me on it - I may get too anxious).**

**A big thank you goes out to my newest reviewers, Cariad Swoop and Insert your Mom joke here! But I also would like to thank everyone who has ever read or reviewed this story. You're all what kept me going, even things got busy towards the end. I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it.**

**Without further ado, here it is.**

**CHAPTER 25 - HAPPY ENDINGS**

**OLIVER'S POINT OF VIEW**

Despite my better knowledge - I'd heard stories about the Forbidden Forest - I quickly looked around.

It was Angelina.

She was standing stock-still, her arms clamped to her sides, and her eyes spread wide on my face. "Oliver, what do you think you're doing!"

"I - I was -" Words failed me. What had I been doing? Angelina didn't wait for the rest of my answer.

"You heard McGonagall!" she yelled. "She said no one was to leave the _common room_, let alone the _bloody castle_! And I heard what you said about running away, but I didn't think you'd be insane enough to actually go through with it! But then you didn't come back, so of course it's up to me to leave the castle myself to find you, and now because of your sorry arse, we're all going to get in trouble..." Her eyes travelled from mine to Katie and her voice immediately grew urgent. "What's wrong with her?"

I opened my mouth to say something, but I couldn't think of the right words; I didn't know what was wrong with her and I had absolutely no idea what to do about it. Angelina seemed to understand this and dashed to my side.

"How long has she been out?" she pressed.

My mouth gaped but, once more, no sound came out. I wasn't sure how long it had been. It felt like a century, like a losing Quidditch match where you just couldn't block a single goal, no matter how hard you tried.

"Oh, never mind," she said. She took out her wand and began waving it in small little circles around Katie's face. The little scratches and cuts healed in an instant, like they'd never existed. I waited as patiently as I could as she whirled her wand around and around, sure that any moment, Katie would wake up, completely unscathed. Then Angelina's wand work came to a halt, and Katie still had not come to.

"Why did you stop?" I barked at the girl. "What's wrong with her?"

Angelina didn't move her eyes from Katie as she answered, "I don't know what's wrong with her yet. I know she's unconscious, but I don't know why, and I don't want to hurt her or anything by making a mistake. We have to take her back to the castle. There, Madam Pomfrey can take-"

"What do you mean, 'Take her back to the castle?'" I growled as I grabbed the collar of Angelina's cloak. Her eyes became wide pools of shock.

"Katie needs to see Madam Pomfrey!" she exclaimed.

My grip tightened around the fabric. "She's not going anywhere _near_ that wretched castle, Johnson."

Angelina's hands closed around my wrist and forced me away. "Oliver, come to your senses! Katie needs you to do the right thing now, and believe me, keeping her out here in the pouring rain is _not_ the right thing to do! She needs professional help!"

Lightning flashed murderously close to the treetops and thunder cracked above our heads as I stared at Angelina, lost for words. Sending Katie to the Hospital Wing would be like sending her to her death. Every single person in that room was Petrified and everyone expected the Heir of Slytherin to turn up any minute, just in case he wanted to finish the job on any of the victims. There was no way I could let her in there. But...I had no idea how to help her. We couldn't get any farther from Hogwarts and even if we could, I had nowhere to go and still no way of helping her. It was a lose-lose situation; my team would catch the Snitch, but lose the game.

Angelina peered back at me, waiting for an answer.

I swallowed once. "Okay."

I bent down to take Katie into my arms but Angelina stopped me. "No, I don't want you to carry her. We're running back and she doesn't need to be shaken up anymore than she already has been." Again, she pointed her wand at Katie but this time muttered, "Wingardium leviosa," and Katie's body rose into the air, guided by Angelina's wand. "Let's go!"

I couldn't remember having ever run as fast as I did that night. In a matter of minutes, I was out of breath with a stitch in my side - something that hadn't happened in several years. We weren't even out of the forest yet. Angelina was smaller than me, and therefore naturally faster, but I kept pace with her. Katie's unconscious form zoomed along ahead of us. My insides writhed sickeningly with every tree that passed within inches of her body, though she was never in any true danger of hitting them due to Angelina's steady hand. The raindrops began to grow heavier and fell heavier as the trees thinned and soon enough, we broke through the hem of the forest. The black frame of Hogwarts beckoned us up the hill, all of its windows shining gloriously against the stormy sky. Not a single light seemed to be extinguished in the castle, even though it had to have been nearly three in the morning.

Only when we were right underneath the window to my dormitory did I realize that I'd forgotten something.

"Shite!"

Angelina jumped a little and Katie's hovering body quivered slightly. "What?" she asked.

"I left my broom back in the forest! We can't fly back up. We're stuck here and Katie's stuck here and she'll never-"

Angelina threw a hand over my mouth. "We'll go through the front doors, you dolt! Just be quiet so we don't get caught!" I nodded and then she released me.

We hurried as close as we could to the edge of the castle, and once we made it to the entrance, we opened the doors as quietly as possible, sure that there were professors patrolling the halls. All seemed fine until thunder crashed outside. The both of us had been friends with Fred and George too long to not know how to react; we froze in place with the door still wide open before we ran for our lives. Angelina bolted to the nearest suit of armor and guided Katie behind another one, leaving me to slip inside a nearby broom cupboard. I held my breath, waiting for McGonagall, or Snape, or someone to come investigate... but no one did. Carefully, expecting to meet the eyes of a teacher, I opened the and saw Angelina doing the same, when I heard the sound of many voices coming from the Great Hall. My eyes connected with Angelina's, who had noticed the same thing; she looked back at the Great Hall, then back at me and nodded. Still very slowly and quietly, I cracked the door open and made my way out into the entrance hall. Angelina had left Katie levitating behind the suit of armor as she headed towards the Great Hall. As we neared the entrance, the voices became clearer. They sounded...cheerful.

Angelina threw caution out the window as she strolled right inside. My stomach caught in my throat for a moment before Alicia came hurtling out of nowhere and threw her arms around her best friend. I quickly backed against the wall.

"Ange, they did it! THEY DID IT!" I heard Alicia chant enthusiastically. "THEY CAUGHT THE HEIR OF SLYTHERIN! Harry did it! He and Ron Weasley-" I ran through the door and Alicia stopped babbling at once as she let go of Angelina. "Where have you been!"

"That doesn't matter," I said automatically. "Look, Katie needs to see Pomfrey. Can you help us?"

Alicia's smile melted into a straight line. "Of course, where is she?"

Together, we headed up towards the hospital wing, Katie's body floating serenely in front of us. Alicia didn't stop asking questions the entire way, but I wasn't listening. Aside from being unconscious, Katie was safe. It was over. The mystery of the Chamber of Secrets was solved, there would be no more victims, no more chance of death...

Angelina rapped sharply on the door. I could hear voices echoing from within the room. Madam Pomfrey was there in a heartbeat with narrowed eyes.

"I'm a little busy, right now, if you don't mind, so could you please come back later." She went to shut the door.

"No, no! It's not me, it's Katie Bell, she's out cold." Pomfrey opened the door wide again and Angelina moved Katie inside. The matron sighed but motioned to one of the beds nearby.

"Lay her there, please. I'll be with you in a moment. I just need to finish up with Miss Clearwater." She looked over her shoulder at a girl in Ravenclaw robes, solid as stone. "She's the last one that needs the Mandrake draught. Only one of you may stay. As you can see, it's a little crowded."

I looked around the room: there had to have been at least twenty people in there, some on beds, looking like they had just woken from a very long nap, some with tears in their eyes as they threw their arms around the necks of others. Madame Pomfrey then bustled off towards the only bed that remained quiet, the Clearwater girl, and as I watched, I noticed Percy Weasley sitting at her side with anxious eyes.

"Oliver, you need to stay."

"What?" Angelina was looking right at me. I cleared my throat. "Oh, yeah. I'm not going anywhere. Not until she wakes up." I looked at Katie, who had been gently lowered onto the bed.

"We'll see you back at the Great Hall, then," Angelina said. I nodded slowly and before I could stop her, she hugged me.

"Cheer up, mate. Everything's going to be okay now."

Despite my worry for Katie, I forced a smile. Angelina and Alicia smiled back at me before they headed back out the doors. I sighed and sat down in the chair next to Katie's bed.

"Thank Merlin," I whispered as I took her hand in mine.

**KATIE'S POINT OF VIEW**

I opened my eyes and for the umpteenth time that year, I didn't know where I was, but wherever I was, there was a load of way too bright light and a lot of noise; I groaned.

"Katie? Katie!" A warm body was smothering me, a pair of arms around my neck, before I could even object. I tried to push the weight off, but what little strength I had at the moment didn't do any good.

"Can't - breathe," I rasped.

Oliver pulled back. "That's the first time I've ever been glad to hear you say that."

I rubbed my eyes and cleared my throat - it felt extremely dry, but much better than it had in weeks. "Where am I?"

"The hospital wing. Now that's you're awake, we can go back downstairs and -"

I sat up so fast that little stars popped in front of my eyes. "We're at Hogwarts! What happened? Why are we back? Shouldn't we be-" Oliver's arms once again wound themselves around me and effectively ended my questioning.

"Katie, it's over!" He was stroking my hair, and his voice sounded out of control, but for once, not in an insane way. "The Heir of Slytherin is gone! No more monster, no more Petrified people, it's over! You're safe!"

"What?" I pulled back and looked at him. No way, this was too good to be true.

"I don't exactly know what happened, but it's okay! You're safe, we're safe! There's nothing more to worry about! There's a feast downstairs right now, I'm sure we'll find out the story there! Come on, let's go!"

Part of me wasn't sure if I could trust him - not that I thought he was lying, but just that it still seemed impossible. One moment, we're running away, then the next, it's just all over? But I looked around the room then, and I couldn't deny the truth: all around me, the Petrified victims were waking up, surrounded by their friends. It _had_ to be true.

"Well..." I muttered. Oliver looked at me curiously. "You pass out for one moment and you just miss everything."

He laughed and it sounded more natural, more carefree than it had all year. "Come on, let's go down to the feast. Alicia is dying to tell me the story of what happened."

Madam Pomfrey came over and double checked that it was okay for me to leave. Having been unconscious for so long, I still felt a little woozy so I leaned against Oliver for support, but otherwise felt perfectly fine.

If Oliver hadn't told me himself, it would have been apparent the moment I stepped inside the Great Hall that the Heir of Slytherin had been caught. Students were babbling at top speed and as loud as possible as they shoveled food onto plates from the various platters that glittered up and down the tables. Up at the High Table, every teacher wore a smile, even Snape, though it looked horribly out of place. I noticed Lockhart was nowhere to be seen. Pity.

Just like Oliver, Angelina threw her arms around me the moment I sat down at the Gryffindor table.

"Glad you're okay," she said as she let go.

"Glad to be back," I said with a smile. "Now what's all this about the Chamber of Secrets?"

Alicia launched into the story from across the table. As it turned out, Lockhart had been sent down into the Chamber after Ginny Weasley, but Harry and Ron followed him. Apparently, Lockhart had lost his memory ("What a shame," George mused) and was consequently no longer able to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts. Harry then took on the Heir of Slytherin himself, who just happened to be You-Know-Who himself, but not the real one - a memory preserved in a diary. He had then fought the monster which had turned out to be a basilisk (a giant snake that killed people with one look, or Petrified them through its reflection). Once both the monster and memory form of You-Know-Who were destroyed, Ginny Weasley was saved. So, Harry basically saved the day. Again. He and Ron both got two hundred points each for Gryffindor, securing the House Cup for the second year in a row. Oh, and exams were cancelled (good thing, since I hadn't had any time to study).

The rest of the year flew by, what with no exams and no monsters to worry about anymore. Oliver and I spent most of our time out on the Quidditch pitch, just playing one-on-one Quidditch. Sometimes Alicia and Angelina joined us, but Fred and George stayed close with their siblings, given what had happened. Furthermore, Oliver was forced to use one of the school brooms as he had left his somewhere in the Forbidden Forest. I made fun of him for it every chance I got, but then he would say, "Someone had to save your arse, didn't they?" That always shut me up.

Sooner than I would have liked, it was time to board the Hogwarts Express and head back home. Taking care not to have another mishap like Christmas break, I levitated my trunk and all of my belongings down the staircase. Oliver, Angelina, Alicia, and I nabbed a compartment on the train all to ourselves. Fred and George joined us for a little bit, but then opted to sit with Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione Granger instead. They promised to reunite with us before the ride was over.

Just like old times, Alicia gushed about boys and fussed over Angelina's hair, while Angelina laughed at her antics. Oliver and I did the same. Not much needed to be said, as Alicia talked enough for all four of us. Halfway through the ride or so, I had to use the bathroom. Even though Oliver had calmed down extremely, he still wouldn't let me walk down the train alone. Despite my complaints, he insisted on following me. But then I realized, maybe this could be fun. Oliver was trailing behind me, but two doors before the lavatory, I slid the door to a compartment open and pulled him inside with me. He made a sound of protest at first but I cut him off when I pressed my lips to his.

"Hey!" a voice called from behind me. Oliver and I broke apart and when he looked over my shoulder, his eyes went wide. I turned around and what I saw will haunt me forever: Percy Weasley was splayed across the bench with that Ravenclaw girl, Penelope Clearwater, in his lap. Their hair was mussed and their cheeks were flushed.

Oliver cleared his throat pompously. "Ahem." He glared down at them for a moment. "No public displays of affection."

Percy's cheeked deepened in color as he said, "This was private until you busted in."

Oliver crossed his arms. "Doesn't matter. I'm part of the public and now, because of your public displays of affection, I'm scarred for life. I would have expected more appropriate behavior from you, Mr. Weasley."

"But - but -" Percy stammered. Oliver and I laughed before I pushed the door back open and this time headed to the bathroom for real.

In what seemed like no time, the train was pulling into Kings Cross and student began filtering out onto the platform. Fred and George had meandered back through the crowd to say their goodbyes. Alicia and Angelina headed off with the twins. Oliver and I, our fingers linked securely, ran through the barrier together

It was not hard to spot Oliver's family. I saw his mother, tall and statuesque, her chestnut hair framing her smiling face perfectly. Next to her, Reggie Wood was beaming with his arm around little Olivia who could barely contain her excitement and seeing her older brother. Oliver's hand tightened around me as he led me towards them.

"Katie, I'd like you to meet my family," he said, unable to suppress his emotion. "Guys, this is my girlfriend, Katie."

Oliver's mom gave a tiny gasp before her smile widened and she extended her hand. I took it and she said, "It's nice to meet you, Katie. Oliver's told us a lot about you."

"It's nice to finally meet you, too," I said. Oliver's dad offered me his hand next.

"Glad to know my son's got good taste," he chortled. "She's a looker, Ol."

Oliver chuckled next to me and I couldn't help but blush. He pulled me against his side. "Ah, and there's one more person left to meet." He looked down at his little sister, who was practically dancing she was so happy.

"Katie, this is Olivia," he said and the moment he said her name, Oliver shot forward and wrung her hands around his middle. Again, he chuckled. Then she looked up at me, her blue eyes wide.

"It's nice to meet you, Katie!" she said merrily. She stuck out her own tiny hand and I shook it. When she let go, she beamed up at Oliver and whispered loudly, "Oliver, she's really pretty," like she thought I couldn't hear. Again, I blushed.

"Well, I'm so glad I finally got to meet all of you, but I must be off to see my own family now."

Oliver's smile drooped the slightest bit as he wriggled out of Olivia's grasp. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw his parents enter into a conversation about Quidditch. Go figure.

"Promise we'll see each other over the summer," I mumbled as I took his hands in mine.

"Promise," he declared. Then he kissed my forehead.

"I'll miss you," I said dejectedly.

"You too." He placed his forehead against mine and whispered, "I love you."

Even though he'd said it before, I was still taken by surprise. Probably because this time, I knew he wasn't saying it out of insanity. I waited a moment and let it sink in before I replied, "You mean it this time?"

"Yep."

"Well, then I love you, too." I pulled him into me and kissed him on the lips. Somewhere below, I heard a small sigh from Olivia.

As much as I didn't want it to end, I broke away from him and without turning around, began walking away in search of my family. I waved sadly and so did he, but instead of dreading the time we would have to spend apart, I could only find myself looking forward to when I would see him again. Next year was going to be the best year yet.

**THE END**

**Or at least untll the sequel ;)**

**Let me know what you guys thought overall in the reviews, and keep an eye out for my next update, whenever it may be. Thanks, guys :)**


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